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'Hermann Buhl' (September 21, 1924 – June 27, 1957) is considered one of the best post-war Austrian climbers and one of the best climbers of all time. He was particularly innovative in applying alpine style to Himalayan climbing. His accomplishments include:

★ 1953 First ascent of Nanga Parbat, 8125 metres (26,658 ft.) (solo and without oxygen)

★ 1957 First ascent of Broad Peak, 8047 metres (26,400 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 solo. Just a few weeks after the successful first ascent of Broad Peak (with Fritz Wintersteller and Marcus Schmuck), Buhl and Kurt Diemberger made an attempt on nearby, unclimbed Chogolisa peak (7654 metres) in alpine style. Buhl died when he fell through a cornice on the southeast ridge near the summit of Chogolisa. His body has never been found.

Contents

Early life

Publications

See also

External links

Early life

Buhl was born in Innsbruck, the youngest of four children. After the death of his mother, he spent years in an orphanage. In the 1930s, as a sensitive (and not very healthy) 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.
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.

Publications

★ Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage, , Hermann, Buhl, Hodder & Stoughton, , ASIN B0000CJH7J

★ Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage: The Lonely Challenge, , Hermann, Buhl, Mountaineers Books, , ISBN 0898866103

See also

★ List of famous Austrians

★ List of Austrian mountaineers

External links

★ Team Member of the Austrian OEAV Karakoram Expedition 1957

★ Hermann Buhl Biography

★ Hermann Buhl and Nanga Parbat