Legendary Greek Mountaineer Michalis Tsoukias Dies from Coronavirus

Legendary Greek mountaineer Michalis Tsoukias passed away at the Sotiria Hospital in Greece from the novel coronavirus covid-19. Tsoukias was born in Athens in 1955 and started climbing in the early 1970s.

He studied architectural engineering and, was once the president of the Greek Mountaineering Club of Athens and was the vice president of the Greek Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing.

He was the leader of the first Greek expedition to the Himalayas in 1985 and continued with expeditions to the Himalayas, Andes and Antarctica. In 1986, he and Christos Lambris created Trekking Hellas, the company that became synonymous with outdoor activities in Greece. Our condolences to Tsoukias’s friends and family.

“It’s with great sadness that the Trekking Hellas family bids farewell to Michalis Tsoukia. For all of us, he was a role model and visionary… His stubbornness, inexhaustible will and energy, along with his support and confidence in us, will be our compass for the future.”

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Με μεγάλη θλίψη η οικογένεια της Trekking Hellas, αποχαιρετάμε το Μιχάλη Τσουκιά. Για όλους εμάς, υπήρξε πρώτυπο επιχειρηματία, οραματιστή αλλά πάνω απ’ όλα ανθρώπου. Το πείσμα, η αστείρευτη θέλησή του και ενέργεια, παράλληλα με την αμέριστη στήριξη και εμπιστοσύνη του σε όλους μας θα είναι η πυξίδα μας για το μέλλον. Στα δύσκολα μας δίδαξε να είμαστε ψύχραιμοι και δυνατοί και όταν ζοριζόμασταν μας έλεγε “κάντε κουπί”; έτσι και τώρα η μεγάλη οικογένεια που δημιούργησε υποσχόμαστε να συνεχίσουμε το απαράμιλλο έργο που άφησε σε εμάς, στο χώρο του τουρισμού υπαιθρίων δραστηριοτήτων και σε όλη την Ελλάδα.

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Tsoukias in the Himalayas

In 1985, an 11-man Greek expedition were hoping to climb the east face of Annapurna South by the east face to the east ridge. Four members, Dimitris Bountolas, Christos Lambris, Klimis Tsatsaragos and leader Tsoukias reached a high point of 6,500 metres.

A wind slab avalanche from a nearby German team killed Tsatsaragos and Wohlschlager and seriously injured Bountolas and Lambris. Bountolas was killed in a second avalanche that evening. Camp III was completely destroyed and many supplies and gear were lost.

In 1988, Tsoukias, Christos Lambris, Konstani-nos Manalis and Sherpa Tenzing climbed Ama Dablam. It was the first Greek ascent of any Himalayan or Karakoram peak.