February 02

George Band was born in 1929 in Fishponds, Bristol and studied engineering at Cambridge University. As the youngest climber on the 1953 British expedition, he witnessed Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s historic summit of Everest. Two years later, he was part of the team that completed the first ascent of Kangchenjunga, the world’s third-highest peak, in 1955. He combined his technical expertise with mountaineering skill to author seminal works on high-altitude exploration. Band remained active in the climbing community for decades, promoting safety and environmental conservation in the Himalayas until his death in 2011.

Yasuko Namba was a pioneering Japanese mountaineer who became the second Japanese woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1996. Born in 1949, she developed a passion for climbing in her forties and quickly mastered high-altitude expeditions. Namba successfully summited several eight-thousand-meter peaks including Cho Oyu and Lhotse. She joined the 1996 Everest expedition led by Rob Hall and reached the summit on May 10, 1996. Tragically, Namba lost her life during the descent in one of the deadliest days in Everest history. Her courage and determination have inspired many aspiring climbers, and she remains a celebrated figure in Japanese mountaineering.