Renan Öztürk (born April 7, 1980) is a Turkish-American

rock climber Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically an ...

, free soloist,

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 ...

, visual artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for climbing the Shark's Fin route on his second attempt to Meru Peak in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

with

Jimmy Chin Jimmy Chin (born ) is an American professional mountain athlete, photographer, film director, and author. Chin has been a professional climber and skier on The North Face Athlete team for over 20 years. In 2006, Chin achieved the first succes ...

and

Conrad Anker Conrad Anker (born November 27, 1962) is an American rock climber, mountaineer, and author. He was the team leader of The North Face climbing team for 26 years until 2018. In 1999, he located George Mallory's body on Everest as a member of a sear ...

in 2011, where he also suffered a minor stroke. The successful 2011 ascent of the Shark's Fin on Meru and a prior attempt in 2008 were detailed in the 2015 documentary film ''

Meru Meru may refer to: Geography Kenya * Meru, Kenya, a city in Meru County, Kenya ** Meru County, created by the merger of *** Meru Central District *** Meru North District *** Meru South District * Meru National Park, a Kenyan wildlife park T ...

''.

Early life and education

Öztürk was born in Germany to an American mother and Turkish father. His parents divorced when he was one and he moved to

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

with his mother. Öztürk, whose maternal grandparents were Jewish, attended Hebrew school weekly as a child. Öztürk attended

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...

, then transferred to

Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approxi ...

after his sophomore year. He received a degree in biology in 2003.

Career

After college, Öztürk travelled the western United States with other rock climbers, wintering in Indian Creek or

Joshua Tree ''Yucca brevifolia'' is a plant species belonging to the genus ''Yucca''. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yucca. This monocotyledonous tree is native to the ar ...

, climbing in Yosemite during the spring and fall, and spending summers in Squamish, British Columbia. In 2004, while working as a rigger on a film team in Indian Creek, Öztürk impulsively decided to free solo North Sixshooter Peak. The crew filmed his ascent and included it in the climbing film, ''Return 2 Sender''. Öztürk painted, often using found materials for his artwork, then later became interested in photography and filmmaking. His first attempt at the Shark's Fin route of Meru Peak took place in 2008 with Anker and Chin. They spent 19 days on the climb, but turned back 500 feet short of the summit. In 2019, Öztürk accompanied Mark Synnott on an Everest expedition to search for Sandy Irvine's body. Öztürk led a documentary team from '' National Geographic'' to film the expedition for a documentary called ''Lost on Everest''.

Ascents and expeditions of note

* First ascent of the Shark’s Fin route on Meru Peak in the Himalayas * First ascent of The Tooth Traverse across the Moose's Tooth Skyline, Denali National Park * Free ascent of El Cap via The FreeRider — 5.12+ * First ascent of the SW Cat Ear Spire, Trango Towers, Pakistan Himalaya * First ascent of ‘The Beholder' on the Eye Tooth, Ruth Gorge, Denali National Park — Grade V 5.12 * First ascent of the SW Buttress of Tawoche, Khumbu Himalaya, Nepal

References

External links

* *
National Geographic profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozturk, Renan 1980 births Living people American mountain climbers American rock climbers American people of Turkish descent