As the first double above the knee amputee on Mount Everest, Hari Budha Magar made mountaineering history in May 2023. Now the Nepalese-born climber is starting his new adventure together with Ottobock: he wants to climb all "Seven Summits", the highest mountains on each of the seven continents, by the end of 2025. For mountaineers, this is considered a special challenge, but for Hari the project is a matter of the heart: “For me, it's about changing the view of people with disabilities. I want to encourage people and show what we can achieve. No matter whether it's climbing the highest mountains with prostheses or realising other dreams.”

Hari has already reached three of the seven summits climbing highest peaks in Asia, Africa and Europe*: Mount Everest (8,849m), Kibo/Kilimanjaro (5,895m) and Mont Blanc (4,810m). In 2024 and 2025, he has planned expeditions to the four remaining peaks: Denali (6,190m) in North America, Aconcagua (6,960.8m) in South America, Puncak Jaya (4,884 m) in Oceania and Mount Vinson (4,892 m) in Antarctica – with support from Ottobock.

13 years ago, as a soldier in the British Gurkha Regiment, the now 44-year-old lost his legs in an explosion in Afghanistan. Since then, he has relied on prostheses from the German HealthTech company. Initially, he used the C-Leg leg prosthesis, but now the Genium X3 model gives him freedom of movement. For his mountaineering tours, Hari also uses shortened prostheses, so-called stubbies, which provide extra grip.

Shared mission

In the autumn of 2023, Hari Budha Magar visited the Ottobock site in Vienna, Austria where the Genium X3 knee joints are developed and manufactured. Seeing the “birthplace” of his prostheses and getting to know the people behind them were impressive moments for him. The mountaineer shared his experiences with the prostheses with product managers, research & development staff and orthopaedic technicians. Together they planned the next steps of the cooperation.

“We are very happy about the partnership with Hari and his team. They have a clear vision and are one hundred percent authentic,“ says Nicole von Bergen, Head of Global Customer Programs & Partnerships at Ottobock. “We are driven by a shared mission to empower people with disabilities to actively shape their lives. Ottobock is proud to accompany Hari to each of his summits. It's about generating awareness and making a positive difference in tomorrow's world.“

Hari commented “My partnership with Ottobock is truly unique, as it is not just support enabling me to climb and change perceptions about disability, it is a partnership that is literally going to change the technology available to myself and other amputees and people with disabilities to climb in the most challenging, cold and warm environments. I hope the legacy of this partnership is not my accomplishments but others being able to climb their own mountain whatever that might be.”

With his inspiring story, Hari Budha Magar is part of Ottobock's first global brand campaign #IAmAMountain. The campaign is based on authentic user-generated content from 26 users of Ottobock prostheses, orthoses and wheelchairs from 14 countries.

*For Europe, Hari climbed Mont Blanc (instead of Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus), the highest accessible peak due to the war between Ukraine and Russia.