Cory Richards

Cory Richards (born May 1981) is an American mountaineer and photographer. He became the first American to climb an eight-thousander in winter

He has written a book, The Color of Everything, about his life experiences in 2024.

Climbing career

In January 2009, together with Ines Papert, Richards established a new route on the north face of Kwangde Shar (6093 m) in Nepal. A year later, in January 2010, he made the first ascent of the Central South Buttress of Tawoche (6495 m) in Nepal's Khumbu Valley, along with Renan Öztürk.

In 2009 Richards made an unsuccessful attempt on Makalu with Steve House but it wasn't until spring of 2010 that Richards summitted his first eight-thousander, Lhotse, climbing solo with oxygen.

Returning to the Himalaya in 2011 for another winter expedition, Richards and his two climbing partners, Simone Moro and Denis Urubko, made the first winter ascent of Gasherbrum II. They reached the summit at 11:30 am on February 2, 2011, without supplemental oxygen or porters and Richards became the first American to climb an eight-thousander in winter. During the descent, they were caught up in an avalanche, but eventually managed to reach their base-camp without major injuries. Richards filmed the expedition, the resulting film Cold won the Grand Prize at the 2011 Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.

For the Gasherbrum II ascent, the three members of the team were awarded the Polish for 2010 in the category of mountaineering, and Richards himself was also awarded the title of Adventurer of the Year for 2012 by National Geographic magazine.

An attempt on Everest in 2012 with Conrad Anker was unsuccessful, although returning to Everest in 2016 he summitted without using bottled oxygen.

Photographic work

Richards was a National Geographic Photographer Fellow in 2014 and 2019, he photographs mountains and wildlife in the Himalayas and Karakorum, Antarctica, Southeast Asia, and Africa and his photography has appeared in National Geographic magazine, Outside, and The New York Times.