Wastl Mariner

Sebastian Mariner (born March 23, 1909 in Inzing ; † April 3, 1989 in Innsbruck ), called Wastl Mariner , was an Austrian alpinist and inventor from Inzing.

Life

Mariner, a trained mechanical engineer, is considered one of the pioneers of Austrian mountain rescue and developed, among other things, the Marwa rubber sole for climbing shoes and the Marwa ice screw. The Mariner knot named after him was also developed by him. He also invented the so-called Marwa carabiner with a breaking force of 16 kN. Together with Wiggerl Gramminger , he invented the most important devices in mountain rescue today: the steel cable device and the cable winch, the mountain stretcher and the Akia in its current form, and the abseiling bag. From 1939 to 1955 he was head of the Innsbruck mountain rescue service. He founded the mountaineering school of the Austrian Alpine Club and ran it on a voluntary basis until 1971. Wastl Mariner wrote the first text and training book for the Austrian Mountain Rescue Service. One of the first filmic contributions on the subject of mountain rescue shows the mountain rescue techniques developed by Mariner (1948).

In 1948, the Austrian Alpine Association, under the direction of Wastl Mariner, invited neighboring alpine rescue services to a meeting in the "Steinerne Rinne" on the Wilder Kaiser for the first time . Here the participants, these were mountain rescue specialists and doctors from Germany (from the DAV and the BRK -Bergwacht), from France (SAD Army), Italy ( AVS and CAI ), Switzerland (Army and SAC ) and of course from Austria ( Austrian Mountain Rescue Service and ÖAV ) demonstrates modern rescue equipment and methods. It was agreed to set up a working group to coordinate alpine rescue services in the alpine region. The ICAR (International Commission for Alpine Rescue) was officially founded in Bolzano in 1955 as a result of the first meeting in 1948.

Mariner was the first to climb (1935) the south-west pillar at Öfelekopf in the Wettersteingebirge together with Hans Frenademetz and Hias Rebitsch . In 1940 he climbed the north face of the Hochfeiler for the first time together with Karl Haupt, Walter Nagele and Fritz Schweinitzhaupt. In the winter of 1942, Mariner climbed the north face of the Serles together with Paul Aschenbrenner (younger brother of mountaineer Peter Aschenbrenner ) . Mariner is also mentioned in The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer :

“A few years ago, Dr. Heinrich Klier and Wastl Mariner came to Kleine Scheidegg to do the Eigerwand. The circumstances had not been favorable. The two did something that is unfortunately becoming increasingly rare among the Eiger candidates: They didn't wait. They didn't besiege the wall. They just went mountaineering. To the wonderful Bernese Oberland. Made classic routes through the high north faces, even found new, difficult, interesting climbs on mountains that have already gone down in alpine history, climbed Schreckhorn and Finsteraarhorn and Fiescherhorn and a dozen other peaks. "

Mariner made 38 first ascents, some of them of the highest difficulty. At Mont Blanc du Tacul he was a second climber via the Cervasutti Coloirs. In 1954 he was a mountain guide for the OeAV expedition Hans Kinzl in the Cordillera Huayhuash . The expedition, in which Heinrich Klier also took part, reached the peaks Puscanturpa, Sarapo, Jirishanca Chico (first ascent) and Ninashanca. In Africa he went on tours in the Ruwenzori Mountains and climbed not only Mount Kenya , but all 5000m in Africa (1963). In his career he climbed a total of 3603 peaks.

The book “Modern Mountain Rescue Technique” was translated into English by Otto T. Trott and Kurt G. Beam and paved the way for the development of alpine rescue in the USA. The book is now available in 7 languages. He was one of the first to find out in experiments at the end of the 1960s that the bowline, which is considered a classic rope knot, can loosen under ring load. The reason for his investigation was a fatal climbing accident during a mountain rescue exercise in Lower Austria in 1965.

In 1968 he was awarded the Sports Badge of Honor by the City of Innsbruck for his achievements . For his tireless efforts, he received the honorary title of “Professor” from the Austrian Federal President. Mariner climbed the Ortler at the age of 77 . Mariner died on April 3, 1989, just one day after the death of the American "father of mountain rescue", Ome Daiber.

First ascents

• Öfelekopf (south-west pillar), 1935
• Kleines Tschingelhorn , Bernese Oberland , (with Hermann Bischofer), 1937
• Sagwandpfeiler, Schrammacher (with Paul Aschenbrenner ), 1939
• Gate pillar (south wall) 1939
• Ebnefluh (north face) 1939
• First winter ascent of the Fleischbank Ostwand (with Hias Rebitsch ), 1938
• Nevada Jirishanca Chico, 1954

Works

• Wastl Mariner: the mountain rope . 3rd edition, Innsbruck 1969
• Wastl Mariner: Mountain rope and its uses. 3rd edition, Munich 1958
• Wastl Mariner: Modern mountain rescue technology: a guide for the training of the rescue man . 3rd edition, Austrian. Alpine Club, Innsbruck 1964
• Wastl Mariner: Karwendler Westalpenfahrt 1937 . PES, [1]

literature

• Sebastian "Wastl" Mariner - A life for safety on the mountain in Innovative Tyrol: Technician, inventor, entrepreneur , 2007 IV Tyrol ISBN 978-3-200-00986-8

Web links

• Wastl Mariner in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Soles, Clyde. The Outdoor Knots Book. The Mountaineers Books. Seattle, 2004.
2. ↑ Schubert, Pit. Safety and risk in rock and ice. 2nd edition Bergverlag Rudolph Rother , Munich, 2008.
3. ↑ http://www.alpenverein-ibk.at
4. ↑ http://www.bergrettung-feldkirch-frastanz.at
5. ↑ Mountain Rescue Training at the Wilder Kaiser, Austria, 1948.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Meridian , April 2009, p. 7.  
6. ^ Nagele, Walter: The Hochfeiler north face 50 years ago: memories . In: Bergsteiger & Bergwanderer, May 1991, n ° 5, p. 79-8
7. ↑ Brunhuber, Sepp: walls in winter . Bergverlag Rudolph Rother, 1951
8. ↑ Harrer, Heinrich: The white spider . Ullstein, 8th edition 1998, p. 320.
9. ↑ Kinzl, Hans: Cordillera Huayhuash, Perú: An image over a tropical high mountain range . Tyrolean graphics, 1956
10. ↑ Personal folder for Wastl Mariner (PDF) in the historical Alpine archive of the Alpine clubs in Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (temporarily offline)
11. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated August 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.