Carlos Soria becomes oldest climber to summit Manaslu

Famous Spanish mountaineer Carlos Soria Fontán reached the summit of Mt. Manaslu (8,163 m) on Friday, becoming the oldest person to climb the world’s eighth-highest mountain.

The 86-year-old climber, born in Ávila, Spain, on February 5, 1939, dedicated the climb to the 50th anniversary of the first Spanish ascent of Manaslu in 1975 — a team he had joined, though on which he had never summited. Soria first reached the top of Manaslu in 2010 at age 71.

Over the past two decades, he has carved out a unique place in climbing history, repeatedly breaking age barriers in high-altitude mountaineering.

Widely regarded as a living legend, Soria is the only mountaineer to have summited ten of the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000 m after turning 60 — including K2 at age 65, Broad Peak at 68, Makalu at 69, Gasherbrum I at 70, Kanchenjunga at 75, and Annapurna at 77.