Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world at 8,481 metres (27,825 ft). It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas 19 km (12 mi) southeast of Mount Everest, on the China–Nepal border. One of the eight-thousanders, Makalu is an isolated peak in the shape of a four-sided pyramid.
Ama Dablam is a mountain in the eastern Himalayan range of Province No. 1, Nepal. The main peak is 6,812 metres (22,349 ft), the lower western peak is 6,170 metres (20,243 ft). Ama Dablam means "mother's necklace"; the long ridges on each side like the arms of a mother (ama) protecting her child, and the hanging glacier thought of as the dablam, the traditional double-pendant containing pictures of the gods, worn by Sherpa women. For several days, Ama Dablam dominates the eastern sky for anyone trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp. For its soaring ridges and steep faces Ama Dablam is sometimes referred as the "Matterhorn of the Himalayas." The mountain is featured on the one rupee Nepalese banknote.
Mount Foraker is a 17,400-foot (5,304 m) mountain in the central Alaska Range, in Denali National Park, 14 mi (23 km) southwest of Denali. It is the second highest peak in the Alaska Range, and the third highest peak in the United States. It rises almost directly above the standard base camp for Denali, on a fork of the Kahiltna Glacier also near Mount Hunter in the Alaska Range.
Mount Hunter or Begguya is a mountain in Denali National Park in Alaska. It is approximately eight miles (13 km) south of Denali, the highest peak in North America. "Begguya" means child in the Dena'ina language. Mount Hunter is the third-highest major peak in the Alaska Range.
Taboche is a mountain in the Khumbu region of the Nepalese Himalaya. Taboche is connected to Cholatse by a long ridge. Taboche lies directly across the Imja River from Ama Dablam and above the villages of Pheriche and Dingboche.
Barry Blanchard is one of North America's top alpinists, noted for pushing the standards of highly technical, high-risk alpine climbing in the Canadian Rockies and the Himalayas.
Mount Huntington is a striking rock and ice pyramid in the central Alaska Range, about 8 miles (13 km) south-southeast of Denali. It is also about 6 miles (10 km) east of Mount Hunter, and two miles west of The Rooster Comb. While overshadowed in absolute elevation by Denali, Huntington is a steeper peak: in almost every direction, faces drop over 5,000 feet (1,520 m) in about a mile (1.6 km). Even its easiest route presents significantly more technical challenge than the standard route on Denali, and it is a favorite peak for high-standard technical climbers.
Conrad Anker is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author. He was the team leader of The North Face climbing team for 26 years until 2018. In 1999, he located George Mallory's body on Everest as a member of a search team looking for the remains of the British climber. Anker suffered a widow maker heart attack in 2016 during an attempted ascent of Lunag Ri with David Lama. Anker was flown via air ambulance to Kathmandu where he underwent emergent coronary angioplasty with a stent placed in his proximal left anterior descending artery. Afterwards he retired from high altitude mountaineering, but otherwise he continues his work. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.
Steve House is an American professional alpinist and mountain guide, and winner of the 2006 Piolet d'Or.
Louis French Reichardt is a noted American neuroscientist and mountaineer, the first American to summit both Everest and K2. He was also director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, the largest non-federal supporter of scientific research into autism spectrum disorders and is an emeritus professor of physiology and biochemistry/biophysics at UCSF, where he studied neuroscience. The character of Harold Jameson, U.C.S.F. biophysicist and mountaineer in the film K2, is based on Reichardt, though the events of his actual 1978 K2 attempt with Jim Wickwire bear little resemblance to the plot of the film.
Greg Child is an Australian-born rock climber, mountaineer, author and filmmaker.
Carlos Buhler is one of America's leading high altitude mountaineers. Buhler's specialty is high-standard mountaineering characterized by small teams, no oxygen, minimal gear and equipment, and relatively low amounts of funding; yielding first ascents of difficult routes in challenging conditions, such as the Himalayan winter season.
Mark Wilford is an American rock climber and alpinist known for his bold, traditional style.
Torre Egger is one of the mountains of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in South America. It is located in a region which is disputed between Argentina and Chile, west of Cerro Chalten. The peak is between Cerro Torre, the highest in a four mountain chain and Cerro Stanhardt. It is named after the Austrian alpinist Toni Egger (1926–1959), who died while attempting neighboring Cerro Torre.
John Roskelley is an American mountain climber and author. He made first ascents and notable ascents of 7,000-meter and 8,000-meter peaks in Nepal, India, and Pakistan. In 2014, he became the 6th winner of the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award.
Michael Kennedy is an American rock climber, alpinist, photographer, writer and editor.
Jim Donini is an American rock climber and alpinist, noted for a long history of cutting-edge climbs in Alaska and Patagonia. He was president of the American Alpine Club from 2006 to 2009, and a 1999 recipient of the AAC's Robert and Miriam Underhill Award.
John Bragg is an American rock climber and alpinist, noted for first ascents of difficult rock climbs in the Shawangunks and Colorado, and taking high-grade rock skills to Patagonia, to make the first ascent of Torre Egger in 1976 with Jim Donini and Jay Wilson.
Alpine climbing is a type of mountaineering that involves using any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes in an alpine environment. While alpine climbing began in the European Alps, it is used to refer to climbing in any remote mountainous area, including in the Himalayas and in Patagonia. The derived term "alpine style" refers to the fashion of alpine climbing to be in small lightly-equipped teams who carry all of their own equipment, and do all of the climbing.
George Henry Lowe III is an American rock climber and alpinist, noted for his history of alpine-style mountaineering on difficult and infrequently repeated routes and his development of traditional climbing routes in the Western United States. He pioneered winter ascents in the North American Rockies along with cousins Jeff Lowe (climber), Mike Lowe, and Greg Lowe. He is also known for his technically difficult ascents of mixed climbing faces in the Himalayas including the unclimbed North Ridge of Latok I and the first ascent of the East Face of Mount Everest, where the Lowe Buttress bears his name. Lowe is currently a resident of Colorado.
