Anatoli Boukreev
Anatoli Nikolaevich Boukreev Russian: Анато лий Никола евич Букре ев (January 16, 1958 – December 25, 1997) was an ethnic-Russian Kazakhstani mountaineer who made ascents of ten of the fourteen eight-thousander peaks, i.e., peaks above 8,000 m (26,247 ft), without supplemental oxygen. From 1989 through 1997, he made 18 successful ascents of peaks above 8000 m. Boukreev had a reputation as an elite mountaineer in international climbing circles, (for summiting K2 in 1993 and Mount Everest via the North Ridge route in 1995) but became more widely known for his role in saving climbers during the deadly 1996 climbing season on Everest. In 1997 Boukreev was killed in an avalanche during a winter ascent of Annapurna in Nepal. Boukreev's companion, Linda Wylie, edited his memoirs and published them in 2002 under the title, Above the Clouds: The Diaries of a High-Altitude Mountaineer.