Geri Winkler (born 13 April 1956 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian mountaineer, who was the first insulin-dependent diabetic to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Since 1984, Winkler has taught mathematics, French, and German language in Vienna. In September 1984, he was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 1. In April 1987, he ran the Vienna marathon, marking the first time a diabetic patient had finished a marathon[ citation needed ].
In the 1990s he ascended Popocatepetl in Mexico and Muztagh Ata (7546 m) in China. In the summer of 2001, he climbed Elbrus in Russia, the highest mountain in Europe. In the winter of 2002 and 2003, Winkler climbed Aconcagua in Argentina, the tallest mountain in South America.
In late 2005, Winkler started a six-month tour of seven countries that started at the Dead Sea by bicycle and ended at Mount Everest. On 20 May 2006, Winkler became the first insulin-dependent diabetic to reach the top of Mount Everest.
Two examples
Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation of 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft) was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities.
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains of each of the seven traditional continents. Climbing to the summit of all of them is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass. Climbing the Seven Summits and additionally reaching the North and South poles has been dubbed the Explorers Grand Slam.
Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres (27,940 ft), after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. The main summit is on the border between Tibet and the Khumbu region of Nepal.
Reinhold Andreas Messner is an Italian mountaineer, explorer, and author from South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental oxygen. He was the first climber to ascend all fourteen peaks over 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) above sea level. Messner was the first to cross Antarctica and Greenland with neither snowmobiles nor dog sleds. He also crossed the Gobi Desert alone.
Cho Oyu is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at 8,188 metres (26,864 ft) above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the Khumbu sub-section of the Mahalangur Himalaya 20 km west of Mount Everest. The mountain stands on the China–Nepal border.
The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than 8,000 metres (26,247 ft) in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent from neighbouring peaks. However, there is no precise definition of the criteria used to assess independence, and, since 2012, the UIAA has been involved in a process to consider whether the list should be expanded to 20 mountains. All eight-thousanders are located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia, and their summits are in the death zone.
Edmund Viesturs is a high-altitude mountaineer, corporate speaker, and well known author in the mountain climbing community. He is the only American to have climbed all 14 of the world's eight-thousander mountain peaks, and the fifth person to do so without using supplemental oxygen. Along with Apa Sherpa, he has summitted peaks of over 8,000 meters on 21 occasions, including Mount Everest seven times; only four other climbers, Phurba Tashi Sherpa Mendewa, Juanito Oiarzabal, Namgyal Sherpa, and Ang Dorje Sherpa, have more high-altitude ascents.
Romeo Roberto "Romi" Garduce, sometimes nicknamed as "Garduch," is a Filipino mountain climber, a scuba dive master, an environmentalist, writer, motivational speaker and works as an IT professional. He began climbing mountains for a cause in 1991 as a member of the UP Mountaineers. Aside from being a mountain climber and IT professional, he became one of the host for the GMA Network public affair shows Born to Be Wild and Pinoy Meets World. He also hosted the GMA News and Public Affairs special entitled Pito Para sa Pilipino with Richard Gutierrez.
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,849 metres (29,031.7 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the Himalayan range of Solukhumbu district, Nepal.
David Sharp was an English mountaineer who died near the summit of Mount Everest. His death caused controversy and debate because he was passed by a number of other climbers heading to and returning from the summit as he was dying, although a number of others tried to help him.
William H. Cross is an American mountain climber. In May 2006 he summited Mount Everest.
Christian Stangl is an Austrian alpine style mountaineer and mountain guide. He has become known as Skyrunner by numerous exceptionally fast ascents of high mountains. His major success was in 2013, when he became the first person to ascend the three highest mountains on all seven continents, the so-called Triple Seven Summits.
Phurba Tashi Sherpa Mendewa is a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer known for his numerous ascents of major Himalayan peaks. These include twenty-one ascents of Mount Everest, five on Cho Oyu, two on Manaslu, and one each on Shishapangma and Lhotse.
Rhys Jones is an English mountaineer and was the youngest person to climb the Seven Summits, and reached the summit of Mount Everest.
Love Raj Singh Dharmshaktu is an Indian mountaineer who has climbed Mount Everest seven times.
Mastan Babu Malli was an Indian mountaineer. He is best known for his 2006 world record of climbing the Seven Summits in the shortest span of time at that point - a total of 172 days with the first climb on 19 January 2006 and the seventh on 10 July 2006. This feat made him the first Indian and South Asian to climb all seven summits, the first Indian to climb Vinson Massif and the first Indian to climb Carstensz Pyramid. While his record for climbing the seven summits has since been improved upon, his record of attaining each summit on a different day of the week still stands today.