Conrad Anker is a true legend as a mountaineer, as a visionary, as a friend and as a Man.
Just as Hilary and Tensing set up a chain of schools in Nepal, and French guides opened the doors of the profession to the most promising local guides, so the tandem Jennifer Lowe-Anker - Conrad Anker decided to deploy training through climbing, knowledge of nature and the English language among the local porters and children of the Khumbu Valley.
Conrad Anker has been expanding the notions of mountaineering and the boundaries in mountaineering for 35 years. A long-time team captain of The North Face Athlete, he has an impressive list of climbs and summits in the Himalaya, Karakoram, Antarctica, and Yosemite. Among these, the conquest of the 6,660m high iconic Mount Meru in the Garhwal Himalaya (2011 in association with Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk, the film won every award possible) and the discovery of George Mulhery's remains on Everest in 1999 shine as achievements. In 2017, on his 12th trip to Antarctica with Jimmy Chin, he blazed a new route on the north face of Mt. Ulvetana (2,930 m. “Wolf's Tooth”), the highest peak in the Queen's Maud Land region. He also has 3 Everest ascents to his credit.
Back home, Conrad serves on the boards of Protect Our Winters, Memphis Rox, and the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation, with which he launched a safety training center for local drivers and people in 2004 in the village of Force, Khumbu Valley Khumbu Climbing Center.
Photographer: Jimmy Chin