Today, ExplorersWeb would like to remember the mountaineers and adventurers we lost in 2024. It was a particularly tragic year, and the full list of climbers and explorers who died is much longer than we can include here, but all have our utmost respect.
There are few treasures of more lasting worth than the experiences of a way of life that is in itself wholly satisfying. Such, after all, are the only possessions of which no fate, no cosmic catastrophe can deprive us; nothing can alter the fact if for one moment in eternity, we have really lived. — Eric Shipton
Jean Malaurie
Jean Malaurie. Photo: Bruce Jackson
On February 5, the pioneering French adventurer Jean Malaurie died at 101.
Malaurie is best known for his classic work, The Last Kings of Thule, about the people of North West Greenland. In the 1950s, when Malaurie traveled, and for decades beyond, the people there continued to live traditionally, traveling by dogteam for weeks at a time, hunting seals to feed themselves and their dogs. The book has been translated into 23 languages and remains the most widely distributed work on the Inuit.
Malaurie defended the rights of arctic minorities and became a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for northern issues.
Evgeniy Glazunov
Evgeniy Glazunov. Photo: mountain.ru
On February 16, Russian alpinist Evgeniy Glazunov died on 5,355m Ak-Su in Kyrgyzstan’s Pamir-Alai range. He died while climbing solo, shortly after he became the first person to ascend the 1,400m north wall via the Chaplinsky route in winter. He perished during the descent.
Glazunov was one of Russia’s best contemporary climbers. Mainly climbing in Central Asia, he had soloed many long routes, including several first ascents. He was the brother of Sergey Glazunov, who died on Latok I in July 2018.
Robin Campbell
Robin Campbell. Photo: Mountainfestival.co.uk
Scottish mountaineer and academic Robin Campbell died on March 4. Campbell received the Scottish Award for Excellence in Mountain Culture and was a respected authority on climbing history, with a particularly keen focus on Scottish mountaineering.
With partners Robins Smith, Dougal Haston, and Neil Macniven, Campbell established many high-quality routes.
David Breashears
David Breashears. Photo: Jan Ainali
On March 14, mountaineer David Breashears died at age 69. He was the first U.S. climber to summit Everest twice, in 1983 and 1985. Breashears took part in 16 expeditions to the Himalaya. He summited Everest five times, Ama Dablam once in 1979, and Kwangde in 1982.
As director and film producer, Breashears co-created the IMAX documentary Everest. He made several other excellent documentaries that captured the essence of adventure, including Kilimanjaro: To The Roof of Africa.
In his productions, Breashears combined visual beauty with captivating narratives.
Lou Whittaker
Lou Whittaker. Photo: Keith Gunnar
On March 24, U.S. mountain guide Lou Whittaker died at age 95. With his twin brother Jim, Whittaker began climbing at 12. The Whittakers summited Mount Rainier at 16 and had climbed all of the major peaks in Washington by 18.
As an experienced glacier travel guide, Whittaker summited Mount Rainier over 250 times. He rescued dozens of climbers over his long career. He also led the first American ascent of the North Col of Everest in 1984.
Masatatsu Abe
Masatatsu Abe. Photo: Masatatsu Abe.
On March 27, Japanese adventurer Masatatsu Abe died at the age of 41. Abe developed his love for the outdoors young. Among his many journeys around the world, Abe bicycled 11,000km through South America, traversed the Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico, and hiked the 1,200km Great Divide Trail in Canada. Abe then traveled 2,000km down the Amazon River on a homemade raft.
In 2018-19, the ever-smiling Abe reached the South Pole after 55 days and 918km via the Messner Start. In 2021-22, he tried to retrace a 1911 Japanese expedition led by Nobu Shirase, but ran out of time.
Abe was scheduled to go to Antarctica again in November 2023, but after completing his preparations, he was diagnosed with brain tumor that eventually killed him.
Denis Trento
Denis Trento.
On May 3, Italian mountaineer Denis Trento perished at the age of 41. A ski mountaineering champion and mountain guide, Trento died on the north face of Testa del Paramont in Italy’s Aosta Valley in a fall.
In 2016, Trento traversed the Rochefort Ridge of the Grandes Jorasses. Two years later, he linked the Bonatti and Aigle on Petit Mont Blanc, and a few months afterward, he climbed the Innominata ridge and the Monte Rosa Express with Robert Antonioli. In 2020, he climbed the Central Pillar of Freney with Filip Babitz, making the round-trip in less than 24 hours.
Martin Feistl
Martin Feistl. Photo: Mountain Equipment
On May 18, German climber Martin Feistl fell to his death while free soloing the south face of the Scharnitzspitze in the Austrian Tirol. He was 27 years old and an experienced free soloist.
Feistl made a name for himself as a first-rate ice and mixed climber, although he was equally at home on rock. In 2020, he was a candidate for a Piolet d’Or for the first ascent (with David Bruder) of Stalingrad, a 1,000m ice route in Austria’s Karwendel Massif.
At 20, Feistl climbed Shivling in the Garhwal Himalaya. He was a purist looking for first ascents on ice routes. In the summer of 2023, he opened new routes in East Greenland.
Tomas Franchini
Tomas Franchini. Photo: Blue Ice
On June 2, Italian climber Tomas Franchini perished after falling from the northeast face of 5,716m Cashan in the Andes. Franchini was 35 years old.
Franchini had been nominated twice for a Piolet d’Or. In 2017, Franchini opened a new route on the west face of 6,618m Mount Edgar in China’s Sichuan mountains with Francois Cazzanelli and Matteo Faletti. In the spring of 2022, Franchini, Philipp Brugger, and Lukas Waldner made the first ascent of 6,653m Shaue Sar via its north face.
John Middendorf
John Middendorf.
On June 21, U.S. big-wall climber and gear designer John Middendorf died suddenly from a stroke. Middendorf’s outstanding climbs in Yosemite and on the Great Trango Tower were followed by more pioneering big-wall routes in Zion National Park. Many climbers use his famous portaledges.
Keita Kurakami
Keita Kurakami. Photo: Takemi Suzuki
On June 26, Japanese rock climber Keita Kurakami passed away at the age of 38 after a heart attack on Mount Fuji.
Kurakami pioneered important trad routes, including challenging rope-solo free ascents. In 2017, Kurakami and a partner climbed the Nose on El Capitan. When it was reported that they free-climbed the route, Kurakami corrected the reports, stating that it was not a totally free ascent. So, in 2018, he went back. This time, he not only freed the route ground up but did it rope-solo, self-belaying. He became the fifth person to rope-solo free the Nose.
Kurakami knew he had a heart condition, but he did not want to stop climbing, choosing to pursue his passion till the end.
Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima
Kenro Nakajima (left) and Kazuya Hiraide.
On July 27, two of the world’s top alpinists, Kazuya Hiraide and Kenro Nakajima of Japan, perished on the West Face of K2 in a fall from 7,500m.
Their outstanding legacy includes multiple Piolets d’Or for both of them. This month, they received another Golden Ice Axe for their first ascent of the north face of Tirich Mir in 2023.
Family members of both climbers attended the Piolet d’Or ceremony in Italy, and Nakajima’s wife posted an emotional letter on her husband’s social media, saying: “Although he was called a professional mountain climber, he always gently grinned and said, ‘I am just a mountain lover’…Our children and I embrace his spirit strongly and will move forward slowly, little by little. May he live in your heart forever.”
Archil Badriashvili
Archil Badriashvili. Photo: Piotr Drozdz
On August 10, Georgian alpinist Archil Badriashvili died in the Caucasus after an incredibly unlucky accident. A lightning strike hit nearby while he was on 4,388m Shkhelda, prompting a fall. Badriashvili was 34 years old.
A physician but also a professional mountain guide, Badriashvili climbed extensively in the Caucasus and wrote many exciting reports for the American Alpine Journal. His first ascent of the isolated Saraghrar Northwest in 2021 earned him and his team a Piolet d’Or.
Sergey Nilov
Sergey Nilov. Photo: Dmitry Golovchenko
On August 17, Russian Sergey Nilov perished on 7,932m Gasherbrum IV in an avalanche. It occurred while Nilov and his climbing partners were trying to find Dmitry Golovchenko’s body. Golovchenko had died last year when he and Nilov were attempting a first ascent of the southeast ridge of Gasherbrum IV.
Over a 20-year partnership, the Golovchenko-Nilov duo won the Piolet d’Or for their ascents of Thalay Sagar and Muztagh Tower. They carried out other highly committed, first-class expeditions on Jannu and Trango Tower. Many of their climbs were first ascents of new routes. The essence of mountaineering was key to all their undertakings, and they were inseparable friends.
Mike Gardner
Mike Gardner. Photo: Arcteryx
On October 7, American climber Mike Gardner fell to his death on the north face of 7,468m Jannu East while attempting to make the first ascent of the mountain. Gardner was a second-generation mountain guide from Idaho. He described himself as a climber, skier, but most of all, a skateboarder.
In 2022, Gardner was part of a team that broke the speed record on the Slovak Direct route on Denali. That same summer, they opened a new route on the east face of Mount Hunter.
Ondrej Huserka
Ondrej Huserka. Photo: SHS JAMES
On October 31, 34-year-old Slovakian climber Ondrej Huserka perished while descending the east face of 7,227m Langtang Lirung. He and Marek Holecek had just made the first-ever ascent by the difficult east face.
In 2017, Huserka made the first ascent of the 1,000m high west face of Alexander Block Peak in Kyrgyzstan. In 2019, Huserka successfully climbed Cerro Torre.
Other great mountaineers who died this year
Sadly, this year’s list is very large. We would like to pay homage to other climbers who died in 2024, though we cannot mention everyone:
Alexander Dusheyko, Oleg Kruglov, Vladimir Chistikov, Mikhail Nosenko, and Dmitry Shpilevoy perished on Dhaulagiri I; Murad Sadpara from Pakistan died on Broad Peak. Others included British-American climber Chris Jones; Italian climbers Francesco Favilli and Filippo Zanin; Rocky Shorey; Irish climber Richard O’Neill-Dean; Dave Tan; T. Hagiwara; Gioachino Gobbi; Japanese climbers Ryuseki Hiraoka, Atsushi Taguchi, and Hiroshi Onishi, who died on Spantik; Carlos Romero, Kurt Blair, and a Canadian partner on Mount Cook; Italian World Cup speed skier Jean Daniel Pession and Elisa Arlian; skiers Sylvain Saudan and Matilde Lorenzi.
Murad Sadpara. Photo: Naila Kiani
We should not pretend to judge those who seek danger in the highest places, or demand that they tell us the meaning of what they do. Simply put, when they pay the ultimate price for their passion, we must recognize them. — Wanda Rutkiewicz
