Anatoli Boukreev Biography

Anatoli Boukreev was a Russian mountaineer, who ascended some of the highest peaks on Earth in his lifetime. He was one of the toughest mountaineers of all time with an extraordinary stamina as compared to his contemporaries. He made some of the most incredible ascents in the history of mountain climbing, some of them without supplemental oxygen. His expeditions were life-threatening because of avalanches, landslides, blizzards and many other mountaineering obstacles but his love for mountains was much greater than any hindrance that came up his way. He made ascents of seven of the fourteen eight-thousander peaks, i.e., peaks above 8,000 m, without supplemental oxygen. His daring efforts to save fellow climbers in the blizzard of 1996 on Mount Everest is considered one of the greatest displays of courage and determination in the history of mountaineering rescues in. But his spirited life came to end when he was killed an avalanche during an ascent of Mount Annapurna in Nepal. His body was never recovered which could be interpreted as his final act of devotion towards his cathedral, the mountains. He regarded the mountains as his place of worship and he became immortal through his passion for mountaineering which ultimately took his life.