Erhard Loretan

Loretan took the principles of climbing fast and light in the Alps and applied them to the biggest mountains on Earth.

[5] In 1984, he did a first ascent of Annapurna (8091m) by the 7km long east ridge with Norbert Joos and descended via the north side, a traverse that has never been repeated.

[5] In 1986, together with Jean Troillet, Loretan made a revolutionary ascent of Mount Everest in only 40 hours, climbing by night and without the use of supplementary oxygen.

[3] Loretan was convicted in 2003 of the manslaughter of his seven-month-old son, after shaking him for a short period of time to stop him crying in late 2001.

[9] At that time, shaken baby syndrome was largely unknown, but he decided to disclose his name to the press in the hope that other parents might avoid a similar tragedy.

Publicity of the case raised awareness of the danger of shaking children due to their weak neck muscles.