Ray Genet (July 27, 1931 – October 2, 1979), often referred to by the nickname Pirate, was a Swiss-born American

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 ...

. He was the first guide on North America's highest mountain,

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

Denali Denali (; also known as Mount McKinley, its former official name) is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. With a topographic prominence of and a topographic isolation of , Denali is the th ...

(Mount McKinley). Genet is the grandfather of actress

Q'Orianka Kilcher Q'orianka Waira Qoiana Kilcher (; born February 11, 1990) is an American actress, singer, and activist. Her best known film roles are Pocahontas in Terrence Malick's 2005 film '' The New World'', and Kaʻiulani in ''Princess Kaiulani'' (2009). ...

Career

Genet's association with Denali began in 1967, when, although he had no previous mountaineering experience, he participated in the first successful winter expedition to Denali's summit, led by Gregg Blomberg. The expedition is described in ''Minus 148 Degrees: The First Winter Ascent of Mount McKinley'' (1970) by Art Davidson.

Death

Genet died on October 2, 1979, while descending Mount Everest with his fellow climber Hannelore Schmatz, succumbing to hypothermia in the night. Exhausted from the climb, they had stopped to bivouac at as the night approached, despite their

Sherpa Sherpa may refer to: Ethnography * Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal * Sherpa language Organizations and companies * Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility * ...

guides urging them not to stop. The two Sherpa guides, Sungdare Sherpa and Ang Jangbo, stayed with them in their bivouac but Genet did not survive until morning. The group was running low on bottled oxygen, and Schmatz died trying to get down to South Col with Sungdare later that day. ''An Account of the 1979 Swabian Everest Expedition'' by Nick Banks in "The New Zealand Alpine Journal, 1980, Volume 33 pp102-104.

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Career

Death

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