Juanito Oiarzabal

Juan Eusebio Oiarzabal
Juanito Oiarzabal in 2007
Born	(1956-03-30) March 30, 1956 (age 61) Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain
Occupation	Mountaineer

Juan Eusebio Oiarzabal Urteaga (born 30 March 1956) commonly known as Juanito Oiarzabal is a noted Spanish Basque mountaineer and has written four books on the subject. He was the sixth man to reach all 14 eight-thousander summits, and the third one in reaching them without supplementary oxygen. He was the first person to conquer the top 3 summits twice (Everest + K2 + Kangchenjunga), and was the oldest climber to summit Kangchenjunga, at almost 53, until Carlos Soria Fontan made his successful attempt in 2014, when he was 75 years old. In 2004, he lost all his toes to frostbite after summiting K2.

In 2009 he announced he wants to become the first person in history to reach a "double 14", summiting each 8000er twice. In April 2010 he reached 24 eight-thousanders, after climbing Annapurna, a world record. In 2011 he climbed Lhotse for a second time, which was his 25th eight-thousander. He is second all-time for 8000er ascents behind Nepali climber Phurba Tashi Sherpa, who has 28.

His success in the Himalayas is well-known, but less well known is that before starting on those ascents he had already accumulated a curriculum which is among the best of Spain. He undertook ascents on all the Spanish mountain masses, on the hardest routes. He even discovered some routes of great relevance. He is highly experienced in climbing the Alps, undertaking climbs for the technical challenges they presented. In other continents, he has climbed in North America, South America and Africa and returning to the Himalayas, it is here that he carries out his expeditions with the greatest ease, which may seem obvious after 35 expeditions over 23 years.