26 September

Born on this day

1914 Achille Compagnoni, Italian pioneer, who made the first ascent of K2 in 1954 together with Lino Lacedelli. He died in 2009, aged 94.
1930 Joe Brown, British pioneer, who made the first ascent of Kangchenjunga in 1955 together with George Band. He died in 2020, aged 89.
1943 Yutaka Ageta, Japanese climber, who made the first ascent of Yalung Kang in 1973 together with Takao Matsuda, who died on descent.
1950 Janusz Kuliś, Polish climber, who participated in the first ascent of Broad Peak Central (8011 m) in 1975.
1951 Pere Aymerich, Spanish Catalan climber, who ascended Gasherbrum II in 1980. He died in an avalanche on Manaslu in 1982, aged 30.
1956 Manuel Arturo (Manolo) Barrios, Colombian climber, who ascended Broad Peak in 1984, Cho Oyu in 1999 and Everest in 2001.
1961 Michal Coubal, Czech free-climber, one of the two famous Coubal brothers.
1961 Albert Schiestl, Austrian climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2012.
1962 Michael (Miguel) Purcell, Chilean climber, who ascended K2 in 1996.
1962 Dambar Singh Bantawa Rai, Nepalese climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025.
1967 Dirga Sing Tamang, Nepalese climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2007 and Manaslu RP in 2011.
1969 Andrew Burtt, British climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2013.
1970 Tashi Dorje, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Cho Oyu twice (2000 and 2001), Annapurna I in 2002 and Everest in 2005. He died on Ama Dablam in 2006, aged 36.
1971 Phanden, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Cho Oyu three times (1998, 2000 and 2004) and Everest three times (2001, 2002 and 2005).
1971 Karma Gyalzen III, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2006 and 2011), Cho Oyu in 2009 and Manaslu RP in 2019.
1972 Lhakpa Nuru II, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest fourteen times (1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2022), Cho Oyu three times (2005, 2006 and 2007), Manaslu RP in 2019 and Manaslu M in 2023.
1976 Khem Chand Thakur, Indian climber, who ascended Cho Oyu in 2006 and Everest in 2007.
1977 Ngima Tenje, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.
1981 Pasang Dorchi, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2012 and Manaslu RP in 2015.
1981 Shoji Yamamoto, Japanese climber, who ascended Everest in 2024.
1982 Mingma Tshering VI, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest six times (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2016) and Cho Oyu in 2009.
1984 Lhakpa Nuru XIV, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest six times (2013, twice in 2018, 2024, 2025 and 2026), Dhaulagiri I (WRFS) in 2017, K2 twice (2017 and 2025), Manaslu M twice (2024 and 2025) and Gasherbrum II and Gasherbrum I in 2026.
1984 Zhang Fang-Fang, Chinese lady climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2025 and Everest and Lhotse in 2026.
1986 Samantha Gail McMahon, Australian lady climber, who ascended Manaslu RP in 2017 and Everest in 2018.
1987 Maria Alexandra Danila, Romanian lady climber, who ascended Annapurna I in 2023, Everest in 2024 and Kangchenjunga and K2 in 2025.
1988 Antonina Samoilova, Ukrainian lady climber, who ascended Everest three times (2022, 2023 and 2024), K2 in 2022, Manaslu M in 2023, Lhotse in 2024, Makalu and Kangchenjunga in 2025 and Nanga Parbat in 2026.
1991 Simon Xavier Ioset, Swiss climber, who ascended Manaslu M in 2023.
1993 Mathila Dwi Lestari, Indonesian lady climber, who ascended Everest in 2018.
2001 Phurenje, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest twice (2025 and 2026).
2005 Bipin, Nepalese Sherpa climber, who ascended Everest in 2026.

First ascents on this day

1984 Possibly (still not confirmed!) one of two peaks of the Simvo Massif, East-Peak (6671 m) or Central-Peak (6811 m), by an Indian party. The Main-Peak (6812 m) is still unclimbed (more details on October 2nd).
2012 "Gyao Kang" (6718 m) by a French party.

Gone on this day

1987 Herbert Tichy, Austrian pioneer, who, with Josef Jöchler and Pasang Dawa Lama, made the first ascent of Cho Oyu in 1954, died, aged 75.
1998 Alex Jaggi, Swiss climber, who ascended Cho Oyu the day before and died on descent, aged 42.