Josef Rakoncaj

Josef "Rak" Rakoncaj (born 6 April 1951) is a Czech mountaineer, mountaineering coach, author of books on mountaineering and also an entrepreneur in the field of special clothing and equipment for trekking and mountaineering expeditions.

He was born in Dvůr Králové nad Labem. He started with climbing on the local sandstone in Bohemian Paradise, where he has registered 54 First ascents. Internationally he is known for being the first person in the world to climb the summit of K2 (the second highest mountain in the world) twice – in 1983 and 1986. For the first of these two successful ascents, Rakoncaj was a member of the 1983 Italian expedition led by Francesco Santon, which made the second successful ascent of the North Ridge (31 July 1983). Three years later, on 5 July 1986, he reached the summit via the Abruzzi Spur (double with Broad Peak West Face solo) as a member of Agostino da Polenza's international expedition.

He is married, has son Lukáš and daughter Lucie. 1985 Dhaulagiri, 8167 m – SW pillar by alpine style, unsuccessful, reached 6800 m 1986 K2, 8611 m – Abruzzi ridge alpine style 1986 Broad Peak, 8047 m – solo ascent of the west face alpine style 1987 Mount Everest, 8850 m, on the SW face, unsuccessful, reached 8300 m 1987 Mount Everest, 8850 m, on the S face, unsuccessful, reached 8650 m 1988 Annapurna, 8091 m – south face – British 1970 route 1989 Manaslu, 8163 m – south face 1990 Cho Oyu, 8201 m – west face alpine style 1990 Shishapangma, 8046 m – north face, alpine style 1992 Nanga Parbat, 8125 m – west (Diamir) face, Kinshofer route 1993 Makalu, 8463 m, Kukuczka route, unsuccessful, reached 8100 m 1994 Mount Everest, 8850 m, on the north face, unsuccessful, reached 7500 m 1995 Kangchenjunga, 8586 m, southwest face route, unsuccessful, reached 8000 m