Lăcătușu was born in
Piatra Neamț,
Romania, on February 21, 1961. After secondary studies at
Petru Rareș High School in Piatra Neamț, he enrolled at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics of the
University of Bucharest, graduating in 1986. He is married to television personality and journalist Irina Păcurariu and has two daughters: Ana Carina (born 20 August 2000) and Iris Petra (born 19 April 2008).
The “Seven Summits” project
Lăcătușu is the first and only Romanian to finish the
Seven Summits project. He completed (
Reinhold Messner’s list (Carstensz list) in 8 years and 166 days.[1]
May 17, 1995:
Mount Everest (8,848 m) - first Romanian ascent, North Col-North ridge-NE ridge route.[2]
February 16, 1996:
Aconcagua (6,962 m) - normal route.
June 4, 1997:
Mount McKinley (Denali) (6,194 m) - first Romanian team ascent, West Buttress route (with
Cornel Gălescu).
April 25, 2000:
Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) (4,884 m) - first Romanian ascent, Messner route (East ridge).
December 10, 2001:
Vinson Massif (4,897 m) - normal route.
8,000 m+ mountains summited
1992:
Broad Peak (8,051 m) - first Romanian 8,000 m ascent.[3]
1995:
Mount Everest (8,848 m) - first Romanian ascent, North Col-North ridge-NE ridge route.[2]
1998:
Cho Oyu (8,201 m) - the first Romanian successful self-supported 8,000m expedition, solo ascent, without bottled oxygen.
Other notable ascents
In Europe:
1990:
Mount Elbrus East (5,621 m),
Ushba North (4,710 m), Pic Sciurovski (4,259 m), Chatin-Tau W (4,200 m).
1991:
Donguzorun (4,458 m) - first Romanian ascent, solo; Ullu Tau W (4,203 m).
1993:
Nakratau (4,451 m) - first Romanian ascent; Keishi (3,702 m) - first Romanian ascent;
Nakratau-
Donguzorun traverse - first Romanian ascent;
Mount Elbrus (5,642 m); Pic Sciurovski (4,259m) - the North wall, Herghiani route. All ascent were made with Lynx Piatra Neamț team (V. Tofan, A. Vivirschi, L. Mihai, L. Constantinescu, S. Baciu).
1994:
Monte Rosa - Vf. Dufourspitze (4,634 m) - first Romanian team ascent;
Breithorn (4,164 m) – first Romanian ascent, NW wall, Welzenbach route;
Matterhorn (4,478 m);
Rimpfischhorn (4,199 m) - first Romanian ascent. All ascent were made with A. Beleaua, V. Tofan, and C. Vrabie.
2004:
Castor (4,228 m) - first Romanian ascent;
Pollux (4,092 m) - first Romanian ascent;
Liskamm (4,527 m) - new route on North face. All ascents were made with Cezar Cordun, Simion Poiană, and Robert Tutuianu.
1994:
Mount Everest (8,848 m) - reached 8,100m on a new route, N-NE Face,
Tibet.
1996:
Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) - stopped at approximately 7,800 m due to bad weather.
1998:
Cho Oyu (8,201 m) - on a new route he reached 7,500 m in bad, deteriorating weather.
1999:
Dhaulagiri NE peak of the summit ridge (8,140 m) - solo ascent.
2003: Machermo (6,237 m) - virgin peak in
Gokio zone (
Khumbu region), first team to ascent (with Viorel Amzaroiu and Vladimir Condratov).
2004: Rifil Peak (6,200 m) - virgin peak on Broken Glacier (
Kangchenjunga region), first team to ascent; Tsisima Peak (6,250 m) - virgin peak on Tsisima Glacier (regiunea
Kangchenjunga), first team to ascent;
Janak Peak (7090 m) - virgin peak in
Kangchenjunga region; reached 6,500 m on West face (all ascents made with
Ioan Torok).[4]
2006: Europa Peak (6,403 m) - virgin peak in
Tsartse massif (Mukut Himal region), first person to ascent.[5][6]
2008:
Lhotse (8,516 m) - solo ascent, without bottled oxygen, stopped at 8,300 m.
Elsewhere:
1996:
Cerro Cuerno (5,462 m) - first Romanian ascent, SW face.
2009:
Gunnbjørn Fjeld (3,694 m) - first Romanian ascent; Peak Capuccino (3,256 m); Petra Peak (3,307 m) - first person to ascent, solo; Cone (3,669 m) - first Romanian ascent; Dome (3,683 m) - first Romanian ascent.[7][8]
Documentary films
He made several documentary films based on his mountain expedition:
1996: "Alison Hargreaves - Regina Everestului" ("Alison Hargreaves - Queen of the Everest")
1997: "Alaska - Ultima Frontiera" ("Alaska - The last frontier")
2003: "Țara Șerpașilor - Lumea de dincolo de nori" ("Sherpa Land - The world behind the clouds") (made with Irina Păcurariu)
Awards
Sports awards:
1994: “Fair-Play” award by Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee for his role in a rescue attempt in Everest.[9]
Lăcătușu was born in
Piatra Neamț,
Romania, on February 21, 1961. After secondary studies at
Petru Rareș High School in Piatra Neamț, he enrolled at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics of the
University of Bucharest, graduating in 1986. He is married to television personality and journalist Irina Păcurariu and has two daughters: Ana Carina (born 20 August 2000) and Iris Petra (born 19 April 2008).
The “Seven Summits” project
Lăcătușu is the first and only Romanian to finish the
Seven Summits project. He completed (
Reinhold Messner’s list (Carstensz list) in 8 years and 166 days.[1]
May 17, 1995:
Mount Everest (8,848 m) - first Romanian ascent, North Col-North ridge-NE ridge route.[2]
February 16, 1996:
Aconcagua (6,962 m) - normal route.
June 4, 1997:
Mount McKinley (Denali) (6,194 m) - first Romanian team ascent, West Buttress route (with
Cornel Gălescu).
April 25, 2000:
Puncak Jaya (Carstensz Pyramid) (4,884 m) - first Romanian ascent, Messner route (East ridge).
December 10, 2001:
Vinson Massif (4,897 m) - normal route.
8,000 m+ mountains summited
1992:
Broad Peak (8,051 m) - first Romanian 8,000 m ascent.[3]
1995:
Mount Everest (8,848 m) - first Romanian ascent, North Col-North ridge-NE ridge route.[2]
1998:
Cho Oyu (8,201 m) - the first Romanian successful self-supported 8,000m expedition, solo ascent, without bottled oxygen.
Other notable ascents
In Europe:
1990:
Mount Elbrus East (5,621 m),
Ushba North (4,710 m), Pic Sciurovski (4,259 m), Chatin-Tau W (4,200 m).
1991:
Donguzorun (4,458 m) - first Romanian ascent, solo; Ullu Tau W (4,203 m).
1993:
Nakratau (4,451 m) - first Romanian ascent; Keishi (3,702 m) - first Romanian ascent;
Nakratau-
Donguzorun traverse - first Romanian ascent;
Mount Elbrus (5,642 m); Pic Sciurovski (4,259m) - the North wall, Herghiani route. All ascent were made with Lynx Piatra Neamț team (V. Tofan, A. Vivirschi, L. Mihai, L. Constantinescu, S. Baciu).
1994:
Monte Rosa - Vf. Dufourspitze (4,634 m) - first Romanian team ascent;
Breithorn (4,164 m) – first Romanian ascent, NW wall, Welzenbach route;
Matterhorn (4,478 m);
Rimpfischhorn (4,199 m) - first Romanian ascent. All ascent were made with A. Beleaua, V. Tofan, and C. Vrabie.
2004:
Castor (4,228 m) - first Romanian ascent;
Pollux (4,092 m) - first Romanian ascent;
Liskamm (4,527 m) - new route on North face. All ascents were made with Cezar Cordun, Simion Poiană, and Robert Tutuianu.
1994:
Mount Everest (8,848 m) - reached 8,100m on a new route, N-NE Face,
Tibet.
1996:
Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) - stopped at approximately 7,800 m due to bad weather.
1998:
Cho Oyu (8,201 m) - on a new route he reached 7,500 m in bad, deteriorating weather.
1999:
Dhaulagiri NE peak of the summit ridge (8,140 m) - solo ascent.
2003: Machermo (6,237 m) - virgin peak in
Gokio zone (
Khumbu region), first team to ascent (with Viorel Amzaroiu and Vladimir Condratov).
2004: Rifil Peak (6,200 m) - virgin peak on Broken Glacier (
Kangchenjunga region), first team to ascent; Tsisima Peak (6,250 m) - virgin peak on Tsisima Glacier (regiunea
Kangchenjunga), first team to ascent;
Janak Peak (7090 m) - virgin peak in
Kangchenjunga region; reached 6,500 m on West face (all ascents made with
Ioan Torok).[4]
2006: Europa Peak (6,403 m) - virgin peak in
Tsartse massif (Mukut Himal region), first person to ascent.[5][6]
2008:
Lhotse (8,516 m) - solo ascent, without bottled oxygen, stopped at 8,300 m.
Elsewhere:
1996:
Cerro Cuerno (5,462 m) - first Romanian ascent, SW face.
2009:
Gunnbjørn Fjeld (3,694 m) - first Romanian ascent; Peak Capuccino (3,256 m); Petra Peak (3,307 m) - first person to ascent, solo; Cone (3,669 m) - first Romanian ascent; Dome (3,683 m) - first Romanian ascent.[7][8]
Documentary films
He made several documentary films based on his mountain expedition:
1996: "Alison Hargreaves - Regina Everestului" ("Alison Hargreaves - Queen of the Everest")
1997: "Alaska - Ultima Frontiera" ("Alaska - The last frontier")
2003: "Țara Șerpașilor - Lumea de dincolo de nori" ("Sherpa Land - The world behind the clouds") (made with Irina Păcurariu)
Awards
Sports awards:
1994: “Fair-Play” award by Romanian Olympic and Sports Committee for his role in a rescue attempt in Everest.[9]