Walter Almberger

Walter Almberger (born July 9, 1933 in Hieflau , Styria ) is an Austrian mountaineer. In 1961 he wrote alpine history with the first winter ascent of the Eiger north face. He is the first climber to climb the north face of the Eiger in summer and winter.

biography

Walter Almberger played a significant role in opening up the Gesäuses for mountaineers. In addition to the multiple ascent of well-known and most difficult climbing routes such as the Rosskuppen-Dachl intersection, he succeeded in 1951 in the second ascent of the direct Rosskuppen north face, the first ascent of the yellow intersection of the Peternschartenkopf (VII +) in 1954, the first ascent of the route "mountain plan" (IX-) in the north face of the Dachl in 1969 and the first ascent of the north-west ridge pillar ( VI-) of the Planspitze in 1979. In 1957 he climbed the Sparafeld -Südpfeiler (V-) Free Solo .

Other of his first ascents included the direct Hochkar pillar of the Spitzmauer north-east face in the Totes Gebirge in 1962, the north edge of the Türml in the Venediger group in 1967 and the north-east channel of the Romariswandkopf in the Glockner group in 1980.

In the 1950s and 1960s he made countless most difficult rock climbs in the Alps, including the Matterhorn north face, Petit Dru west face, Triolet north face, Piz Badile north east face, Punta Civetta north west face, Große Zinne north face, western pinnacle north face, Laliderer Spitz -Northwand, Rotwand -Südwestwand, Sagwand-Nordpfeiler and Tofana di Rozes -Südostwand. In 1958 he was successful in the Caucasus with the second ascent of the north face of Pik Germogenova and the first ascent of its southwest ridge.

On March 12, 1961, together with Toni Hiebeler , Toni Kinshofer and Anderl Mannhardt, he managed the first winter ascent of the Eiger north face over the Heckmair route in a seven-day climb . For this he was voted Styrian Sportsman of the Year, among other things . He suffered frostbite during this operation, which is why one of his big toes had to be amputated. From August 13th to 15th, 1962 he climbed the north face of the Eiger again and was accompanied by Klaus Hoi , Hugo Stelzig and Adi Weißensteiner. He was the first mountaineer to climb the north face of the Eiger in summer and winter.

In 1962 he took over as an actor some climbing scenes in the Eiger north face for the film His best friend by Luis Trenker . In July 1964 he fell while climbing the Scheiblingstein southwest face in the Ennstal Alps and sustained serious injuries. He suffered, among other things, two cheekbones, a broken nose, a broken left hand, the ninth rib and the right ankle. The Tiroler Tageszeitung had even mistakenly declared him dead. Pit Schubert recorded this incident in his book Anecdotes from the Mountain: Amusing Tales of Mountaineering, Climbing and Skiing .

Almberger worked full-time in underground mining until 1963 , then as a steiger on the Erzberg . He has been retired since 1987 and lives with his second wife in Hieflau.

Web links

• Report on the Eiger ascent at Bergführer.at
• Styrian Sportsman of the Year
• Walter Almberger's personal folder (PDF) in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline)