Fritz Moravec

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Fritz Moravec (born April 27, 1922 in Vienna ; † March 17, 1997 ibid) was an Austrian mountaineer and travel writer.

Postcard of the Dhaulagiri expedition in 1959 with the signatures of Fritz Moravec and his comrades

Fritz Moravec became known through his numerous expeditions, including in the Karakoram , where he took part in the first ascent of the 8,034 m high Gasherbrum II . But he was also the founder of the Glockner- Kaprun High Mountain School .

Life

After an apprenticeship as a motor vehicle mechanic, he studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Vienna . He got his love for mountaineering from his father, a train driver. He was deployed as a military mountain guide on the Dolomite front during the First World War . He himself did not join the mountain troops until 1942 during World War II and came with them to the Caucasus .

After returning from captivity in 1946, he continued studying psychology and pedagogy and became a specialist teacher in a technical college for locksmithing. He spent a lot of his free time with youth groups in the mountains, such as in the Gesäuse , and conducted climbing courses.

He had specialized in ice climbing in contrast to his father, who climbed more in rocks.

After 1950 he drove increasingly to the Western Alps and in 1954 for the first time in the Himalayas to the Saipal .

On July 7, 1956, he climbed the Gasherbrum II with Josef Larch and Hans Willenpart . Over the years he also undertook other expeditions, such as to Spitzbergen , to Dhaulagiri or to Africa. For sometimes expressed suspicion Fritz Moravec have the summit of Gasherbrum II - because it can not be seen on the summit pictures - not reached, a quote from the lecture Himalayan Mountaineering then and now , the Moravec on 25 September 1995 in the Vienna City Hall held : “At an altitude of 8035 meters it was so warm that we even took off our anoraks. There was not a cloud in the sky, there was no wind; [...] Since there was no room for the Steinmann on the two rocky peaks, Hans and Sepp set up a small summit sign on the edge of the firn field. Meanwhile I wrote our route, the day, the hour and our names on a piece of paper. I put the note with the ascent dates in an empty film can and added a medallion of Our Lady as a thank you for the success of this great ascent. It was very difficult to part with this one, which my mother had given me during the war, but I wanted to make a small sacrifice. I covered the metal can with an Austrian state pennant, my companions placed it in the stone pyramid. "

In 1959, Moravec led an Austrian expedition to Dhaulagiri , which failed 300 m below the summit due to the weather on May 27, 1959, but prepared the success of the Swiss expedition in the following year by exploring and insuring the route on the northeast ridge for the first time.

In 1962 Moravec was to take part in a Dutch Himalayan expedition on the one hand, and on the other hand, he received an offer from nature lovers to set up a mountaineering school. He took on the second task and founded the Glockner Kaprun High Mountain School, as the training of mountaineers was very important to him from an early age. He created training plans for ten to thirteen year olds, which are still recognized worldwide today. He ran the school for thirty years. After his death it was renamed the Fritz Moravec High Mountain School.

Grave of Fritz Moravec in the Hietzingen cemetery

Moravec was buried in the Hietzingen cemetery in an honorary grave (group 18, row 7, number 225). In 1998 the Fritz-Moravec-Steig in Vienna- Hietzing was named after him.

Literary works

  • White Mountains - Black People (1958)
  • Dhaulagiri - Mountain Without Mercy (1960)
  • Dangers and Companions - Adventures on Svalbard (1961)
  • Himalayan mountaineering then and now. (This book was published in 1998 after his death)

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ First ascents information of the Main 8000ers. In: 8000ers.com. Eberhard Jurgalski , accessed on March 22, 2012 (English).
  2. ↑ See Fritz Moravec: Himalaya mountaineering then and now. From the first explorations to the summits that can be bought , Vienna 1998, p. 56f.
  3. ^ Fritz Moravec in the search for the deceased at friedhoefewien.at
  4. ↑ Vienna City Hall Correspondence, December 13, 1956, sheet 2464
personal data
SURNAME Moravec, Fritz
SHORT DESCRIPTION Austrian alpinist
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1997
PLACE OF DEATH Vienna