Hermann Buhl

Hermann Buhl, who lived from 1924 to 1957, was an Austrian mountaineer from Innsbruck and one of the pioneers of the alpine style of climbing. On 3 July 1953 he made the first ascent of Nanga Parbat, reaching the summit alone and without supplemental oxygen after setting out at about half past two in the morning and arriving near seven in the evening. He then survived a night in the open at almost 8,000 metres, and frostbite cost him part of his right foot. In 1957 he was one of four climbers who made the first ascent of Broad Peak. A few weeks later he fell on Chogolisa when he walked over a cornice in a snowstorm, and his body was never recovered. Austrian sports journalists voted him Sportsman of the Year 1953, and Reinhold Messner called him the best all-round mountaineer of his time.