Boyan Petrov ( bg, Боян Петров, born 7 February 1973 – disappeared 5 May 2018) was a Bulgarian

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and

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, a ...

, who worked at the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7. ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

.Boyal Petrov
NMNHS He was married to Radoslava Nenova and they have a child - Yavor Petrov. At the time of his disappearance he had climbed 10 out of the 14

eight-thousander The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) recognises eight-thousanders as the 14 mountains that are more than in height above sea level, and are considered to be sufficiently independent of neighbouring peaks. There is no ...

s, all without supplementary oxygen. As of October 2019, this achievement tied him with Atanas Skatov as the Bulgarian altitude climber with the highest number of successful ascents of peaks over 8000 meters. He was the first Bulgarian to summit four of those mountains:

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 ...

(2009),

Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga, also spelled Kanchenjunga, Kanchanjanghā (), and Khangchendzonga, is the third highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the ...

(2014), K2 (2014) and

Manaslu Manaslu ( ne, मनास्लु, also known as Kutang; muh-NAA-slu) is the eighth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is in the Mansiri Himal, part of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the west-central part of Nepal. The name Man ...

(2015).

Achievements

On 20 May 2014 he became the first Bulgarian to climb the third highest peak on Earth

(8586m), as well as the first

diabetic Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

to ascend to such an altitude and without oxygen. On 23 July he climbed

Broad Peak Broad Peak ( ur, ) is a mountain in the Karakoram on the border of Pakistan and China, the twelfth-highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It was first ascended in June 1957 by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, ...

(8047m).Boyan Petrov: The most successful summer of Bulgarian mountaineering

Bulgarian National Radio Bulgarian National Radio ( bg, Българско национално радио, ''Bulgarsko natsionalno radio''; abbreviated to БНР, BNR) is Bulgaria's national radio broadcasting organisation. It operates two national and nine regional cha ...

On 31 July 2014 he became the first Bulgarian to climb the second highest peak on the planet K2 (8611m), which also made him the 35th person to climb three

s in less than 100 days. His double climb – on Broad Peak and K2 - in 8 days, is also a world record. For these remarkable successes the Bulgarian climber was greeted with a video message by mountaineering legend

Reinhold Messner Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian mountaineer, explorer, and author from South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental ...

. His documentary film about his climbs "3x8000" was broadcast on

Bulgarian National Television The Bulgarian National Television ( Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgari ...

in December 2014. He reached the summit of Mt.

Dhaulagiri Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world at above sea level, and the highest mountain within the borders of a single country (Nepal). It was first climbed on 13 May 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition. Annapurna I () is ...

(8167m) on 29 September 2017 at 01:00 pm without the help of supplementary oxygen. Boyan Petrov was a cancer survivor and a

. In 2008 he fell while climbing in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

and broke his leg.Мара Калчева
"Боян Петров: Диабетик съм, но катеря осемхилядници!"
www.blitz.bg, 28-05-2013, in Bulgarian. Retrieved 28-07-2016. During the descent of

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 ...

in 2009 he fell in a glacial

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack, that forms in a glacier or ice sheet that can be a few inches across to over 40 feet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid p ...

and was saved by a group of Spanish climbers. In 2013 Petrov suffered another leg fracture due to a car accident. Despite his injuries, in the following year he achieved a hat-trick by successfully climbing

, and K2 with internal fixators in this leg. After the descent of K2, he suffered a serious hypoglycemic crisis while in base camp, lost consciousness and was able to recover with the help of Polish climbers.

Disappearance

Petrov was declared missing on 5 May 2018 while climbing

Shishapangma Shishapangma, also called Gosainthān, is the 14th-highest mountain in the world, at above sea level. In 1964, it became the last of the 8,000-metre peaks to be climbed. This was due to its location entirely within Tibet and the restrictions ...

. The search for him was discontinued on 16 May. According to other climbers, he may have fallen into a crevasse on the way to the top.

Ascents of peaks over 6000 meters

Source:CV of Boyan Petrov
National Museum of Natural History, Sofia, Official Site. Retrieved 24-05-2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrov, Boyan 1973 births 2010s missing person cases Bulgarian mountain climbers Bulgarian zoologists Missing person cases in China Mountaineering deaths Scientists from Sofia Sport deaths in China Possibly living people

Achievements

Disappearance

Ascents of peaks over 6000 meters

See also

References