77 articles
Adam Ondra
Adam Ondra, Czech rock climber born 1993 in Brno, made the first ascents of Change (first 9b+, 2012) and Silence (first 9c, 2017, Flatanger, Norway), the hardest graded route in the world, and won World Champion titles in both lead and bouldering in 2014.
Alain Robert
Alain Robert, the French Spider-Man (born 1962, Digoin), free solos skyscrapers worldwide with bare hands and chalk; over 250 urban ascents on 170 buildings including the Burj Khalifa, despite a disabling 1982 fall and numerous arrests.
Alex Honnold
Alex Honnold, American free solo rock climber famous for the first ropeless ascent of El Capitan's Freerider (June 3, 2017, 3h56m), subject of the Oscar-winning film Free Solo, and founder of the Honnold Foundation.
Alexander Huber
Alexander Huber (born 1968) is a German climber and mountain guide, younger of the Huberbuam brothers, known for Open Air (9a+), Bellavista, Yosemite speed records, and free solos.
Alison Hargreaves
Alison Hargreaves (1962–1995), British mountaineer; first person to solo the six great north faces of the Alps in one season (1993), first woman to climb Everest without oxygen (13 May 1995), died descending K2 on 13 August 1995.
Anatoli Boukreev (Анатолий Николаевич Букреев)
Anatoli Boukreev (Анатолий Николаевич Букреев), 1958-1997, Kazakh-Soviet mountaineer who climbed ten 8,000-meter peaks without oxygen, guided Scott Fischer's 1996 Everest expedition, rescued three climbers in the storm, and died in an Annapurna avalanche.
Andy Harris (mountain guide)
Andy Harris (Andrew Michael Harris, 1964–1996), New Zealand mountain guide with Adventure Consultants on Rob Hall's 1996 Everest expedition; died in the May 1996 storm after climbing back up to aid Hall and Doug Hansen; posthumous NZ Bravery Star.
Ang Dorje Sherpa
Ang Dorje Sherpa is a Nepali Sherpa mountaineering guide, best known as climbing sirdar for Rob Hall's team during the May 1996 Mount Everest disaster.
Aron Ralston
Aron Lee Ralston is an American mountaineer known for amputating his right forearm in 2003 to escape Bluejohn Canyon, Utah, after being trapped for five days.
Arunima Sinha (अरुणिमा सिन्हा)
Arunima Sinha (अरुणिमा सिन्हा), Indian mountaineer from Uttar Pradesh; first female amputee and first Indian amputee to climb Mount Everest, summiting 21 May 2013 at 10:55 am after losing her left leg in a 2011 train accident; Padma Shri 2015; later climbed Mount Vinson.
Bachendri Pal
Bachendri Pal (born 1954) is an Indian mountaineer, the first Indian woman to summit Mount Everest, on 23 May 1984; Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee and longtime head of the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation.
Balin Miller
Balin Scott Miller (2002–2025), Alaskan alpinist and first soloist of Denali's Slovak Direct, also soloed Reality Bath and the French Connection; died at 23 rappelling off the end of his rope on El Capitan's Sea of Dreams.
Bear Grylls
Bear Grylls, born Edward Michael Grylls in 1974, is a British adventurer and TV presenter best known for Man vs. Wild and as the youngest ever Chief Scout of the United Kingdom.
Beatriz Flamini
Beatriz Flamini, born circa 1972, is a Spanish extreme athlete, mountaineer, and climber from Madrid who spent just over 500 days alone in a cave near Motril, Granada.
Beck Weathers
Beck Weathers (Seaborn Beck Weathers), Dallas pathologist and amateur climber on Rob Hall's 1996 Everest expedition; left for dead twice in the May 10 storm, walked into camp, lost hands, feet, and nose, rescued by the highest-altitude helicopter evacuation on record.
Beth Rodden
Beth Rodden, American rock climber, Yosemite first ascensionist of Lurking Fear (FFA with Tommy Caldwell) and Meltdown 5.14c, 2000 Kyrgyzstan kidnapping survivor, author of A Light Through the Cracks.
Bill Denz
Bill Denz (Mathew William Denz, 1951–1983), New Zealand mountaineer and guide from Dunedin; pioneer of solo and winter face climbing in the Southern Alps and Darrans; killed by avalanche on Makalu's West Pillar, 3 October 1983.
Brette Harrington
Brette Harrington (born 1992) is an American rock climber and alpinist from Lake Tahoe, California, known for her free solos and first ascents of alpine big walls in Patagonia and Alaska.
Chris Brown (explorer)
Chris Brown, born 1962, is a British explorer from Harrogate attempting to visit all eight Poles of Inaccessibility and first to swim at Point Nemo.
Chris Sharma
Chris Sharma (born 1981, Santa Cruz, California) is an American rock climber, first ascensionist of Realization (first 5.15a) and Jumbo Love (first 5.15b), pioneer of deep-water soloing via Es Pontas, and founder of Sharma Climbing gyms.
Conrad Anker
Conrad Anker, American mountaineer based in Bozeman, Montana; found George Mallory's body on Everest in 1999, made the 2011 first ascent of Meru's Shark's Fin, and co-founded the Khumbu Climbing Center.
Dan Osman
Dan Osman (1963–1998), Japanese-American rock climber from South Lake Tahoe; Cave Rock first ascents, free solos, and pioneer of rope jumping; died when his rope failed during a jump from Leaning Tower, Yosemite.
David Breashears
David Breashears (1955–2024) was an American mountaineer and filmmaker who summited Everest five times, co-directed the 1998 IMAX film Everest during the 1996 disaster, and founded GlacierWorks.
David Lama
David Lama (1990–2019) was an Austrian climber who won youth world titles, made the first free ascent of Cerro Torre's Compressor Route in 2012, and first ascended Lunag Ri solo in 2018.
David Sharp (mountaineer)
David Sharp (1972–2006), British mountaineer from Guisborough, died 15 May 2006 near Everest's summit on his third solo attempt; his death after some 30–40 climbers passed him sparked a lasting ethics debate.
Dean Potter
Dean Potter (1972–2015), the "Dark Wizard," American free soloist, speed climber, highliner, and wingsuit BASE jumper; inventor of FreeBASE, Nose record holder, killed in a 2015 Taft Point wingsuit flight.
Doug Hansen (Everest)
Doug Hansen, American postal worker from Renton, Washington, died May 10, 1996 descending Everest after a late 4 pm summit with guide Rob Hall in the 1996 disaster; subject of Into Thin Air and the film Everest.
Ed Stafford
Ed Stafford (Edward James Stafford, born 1975, Peterborough) is a British explorer and former Army captain, first person to walk the Amazon River's length, 860 days, 2008-2010; later Discovery survival TV including Naked and Marooned.
Ed Viesturs
Ed Viesturs (born 1959), American high-altitude mountaineer; first American to climb all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen (Endeavor 8000, 1989-2005, finished on Annapurna), seven Everest summits, IMAX Everest 1996 team member.
Edmund Hillary
Edmund Hillary (1919–2008), New Zealand beekeeper and mountaineer, with Tenzing Norgay made the first confirmed ascent of Everest on 29 May 1953; later reached the South Pole by tractor and built schools and hospitals in Nepal.