Alex Găvan (born 19 May 1982) is a leading

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

specializing in Himalayan climbing of 8,000 meter peaks without using supplemental oxygen or sherpa support in his ascents. By now he had successfully climbed seven 8,000 meter peaks. Since 2006, Găvan runs a special project to climb all fourteen 8,000 meter mountains in the world. He is the first Romanian climber to reach the summit of

Gasherbrum I Gasherbrum I ( ur, ; ), surveyed as K5 and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located in Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. Gasherbrum I is part of the Ga ...

, Makalu, and Shishapangma. His other three successful climbs of

Cho Oyu __NOTOC__ Cho Oyu (Nepali: चोयु; ; ) is the sixth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the ''Khumbu'' sub-section of the Mahalangur ...

, Manaslu, and Broad Peak are second Romanian ascents. In 2006, with the successful ascent of Cho Oyu, he became at 24 years old the youngest Romanian ever to have climbed an eight thousand meter peak and was among the few who freely spoke about the

Nangpa La shootings The Nangpa La shooting incident occurred on 30 September 2006 when a group of unarmed Tibetan refugees attempting to flee Tibet via the Nangpa La pass were fired upon by Chinese border guards. Jonathan Green. ''Murder in the High Himalaya''. 2010 ...

. He was awarded with "The 2007 Romanian Sportsman of the Year in High Altitude Mountaineering" by the Romanian Federation of Alpinism and Sport Climbing for the first Romanian ascent of

8,000 m+ mountains summited

* 2006:

(8,201 m) - second Romanian ascent, without bottled oxygen * 2007:

(8,080 m) – first Romanian ascent, without bottled oxygen,

alpine style Alpine style is mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner, thereby carrying all of one's food, shelter and equipment as one climbs, as opposed to expedition style (or siege style) mountaineering which involves setting up a fixed line of stocked ...

* 2008: Makalu (8,485 m) – first Romanian ascent, without bottled oxygen * 2011: Manaslu (8,156 m) – second Romanian ascent, without bottled oxygen * 2013: Shishapangma (8,027 m) - first Romanian ascent, without bottled oxygen * 2014: Broad Peak (8,047 m) - second Romanian ascent, without bottled oxygen * 2019: Gasherbrum II (8,035 m) - third Romanian ascent, without bottled oxygen

Other notable ascents

* 2004: Chapaeva (6,130 m) * 2005: Mont Blanc (4,810 m) – Miage–Bionnassay route

Notes

In 2007 and 2008, Găvan attempted

Gasherbrum II Gasherbrum II ( ur, ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan a ...

(8,034 m), but due to bad weather and high risk of avalanches, he was forced to retreat, both times, at 7,000 m.

References

External links

Alexandru Găvan’s personal website

Alex Gavan, Viata ca-n montagne-russe
* Alex’s short movies on top o
Cho OyuGasherbrum I
an
Makalu
1982 births Living people Romanian mountain climbers {{Romania-bio-stub