Hermann Buhl
Encyclopedia
Hermann Buhl is considered one of the best climbers of all time. He was particularly innovative in applying alpine style
Alpine style
Alpine style refers to mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner, thereby carrying all of one's food, shelter, equipment etc. as one climbs, as opposed to expedition style mountaineering which involves setting up a fixed line of stocked camps on the mountain which can be accessed at one's leisure...

 to Himalayan
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

 climbing. His accomplishments include:
  • 1953 First ascent
    First ascent
    In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...

     of Nanga Parbat
    Nanga Parbat
    Nanga Parbat is the ninth highest mountain on Earth, the second highest mountain in Pakistan and among the eight-thousanders with a summit elevation of 8,126 meters...

    , 8,126 metres (26,660 ft) (solo and without bottled oxygen
    Oxygen
    Oxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...

    ).
  • 1957 First ascent of Broad Peak
    Broad Peak
    Broad Peak , is the 12th highest mountain on Earth, with an elevation of 8,051 meters . The literal translation of "Broad Peak" to Faichan Kangri is not accepted among the Balti people.- Geography :...

    , 8,051 metres (26,414 ft).


Before his successful Nanga Parbat expedition, 31 people had died trying to make the first ascent.

Buhl is the only mountaineer to have made the first ascent of an eight-thousander
Eight-thousander
The eight-thousanders are the fourteen independent mountains on Earth that are more than high above sea level. They are all located in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges in Asia....

 solo. Just a few weeks after the successful first ascent
First ascent
In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...

 of Broad Peak (with Fritz Wintersteller
Fritz Wintersteller
Fritz Wintersteller is an Austrian mountaineer who made the first ascent of Broad Peak together with Hermann Buhl, Kurt Diemberger and Marcus Schmuck in 1957....

 and Marcus Schmuck
Marcus Schmuck
Marcus Schmuck was an Austrian mountaineer. In 1957, together with Hermann Buhl he organized the expedition, firstly envisaged and initiated by Hermann Buhl, to climb the worlds 12th highest peak, the Broad Peak in the Karakoram in Pakistan. The other members of the expedition were: Fritz...

), Buhl and Kurt Diemberger
Kurt Diemberger
Kurt Diemberger is an accomplished Austrian mountaineer and author of several books.-Career:As of 2008, Kurt Diemberger is the only remaining person alive that made the first ascents on two mountains over 8,000 metres. In 1957, he made the first ascent of Broad Peak and in 1960, the first ascent...

 made an attempt on nearby, unclimbed Chogolisa
Chogolisa
Chogolisa is a mountain in the Karakoram region of Pakistan. It lies near the Baltoro Glacier in the Concordia region which is home to some of the highest peaks of the world. Chogolisa has several peaks, the highest on the SW face rises to...

 peak (7654 m) in alpine style
Alpine style
Alpine style refers to mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner, thereby carrying all of one's food, shelter, equipment etc. as one climbs, as opposed to expedition style mountaineering which involves setting up a fixed line of stocked camps on the mountain which can be accessed at one's leisure...

. Buhl died when he fell through a cornice
Cornice (climbing)
A snow cornice or simply cornice is an overhanging edge of snow on a ridge or the crest of a mountain. They form by wind blowing snow over the crest of the mountain, so they often form on the leeward sides of mountains...

 on the southeast ridge near the summit of Chogolisa
Chogolisa
Chogolisa is a mountain in the Karakoram region of Pakistan. It lies near the Baltoro Glacier in the Concordia region which is home to some of the highest peaks of the world. Chogolisa has several peaks, the highest on the SW face rises to...

. His body was never found.

Early life

Buhl was born in Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...

, the youngest of four children. After the death of his mother, he spent years in an orphanage. Before Scouting was banned in Austria Hermann Buhl was a Cub Scout
Cub Scout
A Cub Scout is a member of the section of the worldwide Scouting movement for young persons, mainly boys normally aged about 7 to 11. In some countries they are known by their original name of Wolf Cubs and are often referred to simply as Cubs. The movement is often referred to simply as Cubbing...

 in Innsbruck. In the 1930s, as a sensitive (and not very healthy) teenager, he began to climb the Austrian Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

. In 1939, he joined the Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...

 chapter of the Deutscher Alpenverein (the German Alpine association) and soon mastered climbs up to category 6. He was a member of the Mountain rescue
Mountain rescue
Mountain rescue refers to search and rescue activities that occur in a mountainous environment, although the term is sometimes also used to apply to search and rescue in other wilderness environments. The difficult and remote nature of the terrain in which mountain rescue often occurs has resulted...

 team in Innsbruck (Bergrettung Innsbruck).

World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 interrupted his commercial studies, and he joined the Alpine troops, mostly on the Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, Italy, c. to the west of the town of Cassino and altitude. St. Benedict of Nursia established his first monastery, the source of the Benedictine Order, here around 529. It was the site of Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944...

. After being taken prisoner
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 troops, he returned to Innsbruck and earned his living doing odd jobs. At the end of the 1940s, he finally completed his training as a mountain guide.

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK