Hermann Buhl
 Buhl in 1953 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Born | 21 September 1924 Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria |
| Died | 27 June 1957 (aged 32) Chogolisa, Karakoram |
| Occupation | Mountaineer |
| Climbing career | |
| Known for | 1953 German–Austrian Nanga Parbat expedition |
| First ascents | |
Hermann Buhl (21 September 1924[1] – 27 June 1957) was an Austrian mountaineer. His accomplishments include the first ascents of Nanga Parbat in 1953 and Broad Peak in 1957.
Early life
Buhl was born in Innsbruck, the youngest of four children. After the death of his mother, he spent years in an orphanage.[1] Before Scouting was banned in Austria, Hermann Buhl was a Cub Scout in Innsbruck. In the 1930s, as a teenager, he began to climb the Austrian Alps. In 1939, he joined the Innsbruck 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 team in Innsbruck (Bergrettung Innsbruck).
World War II interrupted his commercial studies, and he joined the Alpine troops, mostly on the Monte Cassino. After being taken prisoner by American 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.
Himalayas
Nanga Parbat
Before his successful 1953 Nanga Parbat expedition, 31 people had died trying to make the first ascent.[2]
Buhl is the only mountaineer to have made the first ascent of an eight-thousander solo, this was on his first ever visit to the Greater Ranges.[3] His climbing partner, Otto Kempter, was too slow in joining the ascent, so Buhl struck off alone. He returned 41 hours later, having barely survived the arduous climb to the summit, 6.5 km (4 miles) distant from, and 1.2 km (4,000 feet) higher than, camp V.[4]
Experienced climbers, upon hearing later of Buhl's near-death climb, faulted him for making the attempt solo.[citation needed] Regardless, his monumental efforts, along with spending the night standing on a tiny pedestal too small to squat upon, untethered, on the edge of a 60-degree ice slope, have become mountaineering legend, described by Bonington as "a magnificent achievement".[5]
Broad Peak
Fritz Wintersteller and Kurt Diemberger reached the forepeak (8030 m) on May 29 1957, during the course of the Austrian expedition led by Marcus Schmuck. However, it was a few days later, between June 8 and 9, that Wintersteller, Schmuck, Diemberger, and Buhl reached the true summit of Broad Peak (8051m), and achieved the first successful ascent of the mountain. Buhl was approaching the summit in the twilight, at around 6:30pm.[6] The ascent was accomplished without the aid of supplemental oxygen, high-altitude porters or base camp support.[6]
Chogolisa
Just a few weeks after the successful first ascent of Broad Peak, Buhl and Diemberger made an attempt on nearby, unclimbed Chogolisa (7665 m) in Alpine style. Buhl lost his way in an unexpected snow storm and walked over a huge cornice on the East Ridge, near the summit of Chogolisa II (7654 m; also known as Bride Peak), subsequently triggering an avalanche that hurled him down 900 m over Chogolisa's Northeast Face. His body could not be recovered and remains in the ice.[6]
Legacy
His ascents on rock and snow, solo and as a rope leader, his attitude towards the mountain and his physical elegance have been assessed by such contemporary luminaries as Kurt Diemberger, Marcus Schmuck, Heinrich Harrer, Walter Bonatti and Gaston Rébuffat.[citation needed] He was also an idol and hero of climbers of younger generations, such as Reinhold Messner,[2] Peter Habeler[7] and Hansjörg Auer.[8]
His expedition to Nanga Parbat was dramatized by Donald Shebib in the 1986 film The Climb, based in part on Buhl's own writings about the expedition and starring Bruce Greenwood as Buhl.[9]
Publications
- Buhl, Hermann (1956). Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage. Hodder & Stoughton. ASIN B0000CJH7J.
- Buhl, Hermann (1999). Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage: The Lonely Challenge. Seattle, WA, USA.: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-610-3.
See also
References
- ^ a b Messner, Reinhold; Höfler, Horst (2000). Hermann Buhl: Climbing Without Compromises. London: Baton Wicks. p. 16. ISBN 0-89886-678-2.
- ^ a b Shoumatoff, Alex (September 2006). "Brotherhood of the Rope". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ Isserman, Maurice; Weaver, Stewart (2008). Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering from the Age of Empire to the Age of Extremes. Yale University Press. p. 300. ISBN 9780300115017.
- ^ Frauenberger, Walter; Buhl, Herman. "The Ascent of Nanga Parbat" (PDF). Alpine Journal. Alpine Club. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
- ^ Bonington, Chris (1981). Quest for Adventure. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 246. ISBN 9780340255995.
- ^ a b c Diemberger, Kurt (1958). "Broad Peak and Chogolisa 1957". Himalayan Journal. 21. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "Peter Habeler at Keswick". My Outdoors. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "Hansjörg Auer, new route The Music of Chance on Kirchkogel in Austria". Planet Mountain. March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ Rick Groen, "Canadian director stumbles and can't make The Climb". The Globe and Mail, October 16, 1987.
