Valery Babanov is a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n mountaineer

Mountaineer

-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...

, who is especially known for altitude mountain tours higher than 7,000 m as well as for his severe-grade

Grade (climbing)

In rock climbing, mountaineering and other climbing disciplines, climbers give a climbing grade to a route that concisely describes the difficulty and danger of climbing the route...

 climbing

Climbing

Climbing is the activity of using one's hands and feet to ascend a steep object. It is done both for recreation and professionally, as part of activities such as maintenance of a structure, or military operations.Climbing activities include:* Bouldering: Ascending boulders or small...

 tours.

Babanov was born in Omsk

Omsk

-History:The wooden fort of Omsk was erected in 1716 to protect the expanding Russian frontier along the Ishim and the Irtysh rivers against the Kyrgyz nomads of the Steppes...

, and started climbing in 1980. He achieved several first ascent

First ascent

In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...

s and speed records, and was awarded with the Piolet d'Or

Piolet d'Or

The Piolet d'Or is an annual mountaineering award given by the French magazine Montagnes and The Groupe de Haute Montagne since 1991...

 twice, at last together with Yuri Koshelenko for an ascent on the South Face of Nuptse Shar I

Nuptse

Nuptse is a mountain in the Khumbu region of the Mahalangur Himal, in the Nepalese Himalayas. It lies two kilometres WSW of Mount Everest. Nuptse is Tibetan for "west peak", as it is the western segment of the Lhotse-Nuptse massif....

. He is married and lives in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France.

External links

• Official website
• Auszüge aus dem Gipfelbuch (German) at bergfieber.de