Carlos Soria has become a leading sports figure because of his achievement of extraordinary feats at an age when most persons of his generation are spectators. His 2004 ascent of the K2 (8,611 meters) at the age of 65—by comparison, the Austrian Kurt Diemberger accomplished this at the age of 54—and his 2008 solo ascent without oxygen of the Makalu (8,463 meters), have revolutionized mountaineering.