Anatoly Nikolaevich Bukreev, born on January 16, 1958, in Korkino, Chelyabinsk Oblast, USSR, and died on December 25, 1997, on Annapurna in the Himalayas, Nepal, was an outstanding Russian high-altitude climber, mountain guide, and writer. He was awarded the title of Honored Master of Sports of the USSR and International Class Master of Sports in 1989, as well as the title of "Snow Leopard" in 1985. Bukreev conquered eleven eight-thousanders, making 18 ascents. Reinhold Messner considered him the strongest high-altitude climber of the 20th century. Anatoly was awarded the Order of "For Personal Courage" in 1989, the Kazakh medal "For Courage" in 1998 (posthumously), and the highest award of the American Alpine Club, the David Sowles Medal, in 1997 for risking his life to save people in the mountains.

In 2015, the film "Everest" was released, dedicated to the events of May 10, 1996, when eight people died. On that day, Bukreev proved himself to be a professional and a brave man. In blizzard conditions, when no one dared to leave the tent, he went to help lost and exhausted climbers, bringing them back to camp slightly frostbitten but alive. He personally saved three whom he could reach. On Everest, this was considered a feat, as in such conditions many believe that everyone should only take care of themselves.

Anatoly died a year later, on December 25, 1997, as a result of an avalanche during a winter ascent of Annapurna. In 1999, at the base camp at the South Face of Annapurna, his civil partner Linda Wylie installed a memorial plaque with a quote from his diaries: "Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambitions, they are temples where I practice my religion."