MOUNTAINEERS from Austria

Top 6

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Austrian Mountaineers of all time. This list of famous Austrian Mountaineers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Heinrich Harrer (1912 - 2006)

With an HPI of 67.72, Heinrich Harrer is the most famous Austrian Mountaineer.  His biography has been translated into 41 different languages on wikipedia.

Heinrich Harrer (German: [ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈhaʁɐ]; 6 July 1912 – 7 January 2006) was an Austrian SS sergeant, mountaineer, explorer, writer, sportsman, and geographer. He was a member of the four-man climbing team that made the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger, the "last problem" of the Alps, in July 1938. Harrer and the team flew the Nazi flag atop the mountain. Harrer had joined the Nazi Party shortly after the annexation of Austria in March 1938, and was personally received by Hitler after the climb. A year later in 1939, he and the climbing team went on an expedition to the Indian Himalayas, where they were arrested by British forces because of the outbreak of World War II. He eventually escaped to Tibet, staying there until 1951 and never seeing active combat from that point onwards. He wrote the books Seven Years in Tibet (1952) and The White Spider (1959).

2. Hermann Buhl (1924 - 1957)

With an HPI of 60.46, Hermann Buhl is the 2nd most famous Austrian Mountaineer.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Hermann Buhl (21 September 1924 – 27 June 1957) was an Austrian mountaineer. His accomplishments include the first ascents of Nanga Parbat in 1953 and Broad Peak in 1957.

3. Kurt Diemberger (b. 1932)

With an HPI of 56.71, Kurt Diemberger is the 3rd most famous Austrian Mountaineer.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Kurt Diemberger (born 16 March 1932) is an Austrian mountaineer and author of several books. He is the only living person who has made the first ascents on two mountains over 8,000 metres: of Broad Peak in 1957 and of Dhaulagiri in 1960. In 2013, he won the Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award.

4. Peter Habeler (b. 1942)

With an HPI of 52.90, Peter Habeler is the 4th most famous Austrian Mountaineer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Peter Habeler (born 22 July 1942) is an Austrian mountaineer. He was born in Mayrhofen, Austria. He developed an interest in mountain climbing at age six. Among his accomplishments as a mountaineer are his first ascents in the Rocky Mountains. He was also the first European to take part in big wall climbing in Yosemite National Park. He began climbing with Reinhold Messner in 1969. Several accomplishments in mountaineering followed. The most notable event was the first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen on 8 May 1978 together with Messner, which was previously thought to be impossible. A year after his climb on Everest he published Lonely Victory ("Der einsame Sieg". Autor: Eberhard Fuchs) in 1978. Habeler set further records by descending from the summit to the South Col in only one hour and climbing the North Face of the Eiger in ten hours. Other eight-thousanders (mountains over 8,000 meters) that Habeler has summited are Cho Oyu, Nanga Parbat, Kangchenjunga and Gasherbrum I. He has also climbed Yerupaja Chico (6089 m) in Peru's Cordillera Huayhuash. The ascent of Gasherbrum I was made with Messner in 1975, Alpine-style in three days, and is seen by some as ushering in a new era of Alpine-style ascents of eight-thousanders, in contrast to the "siege" tactics which had largely prevailed to this time. It was the first time an eight-thousander had been climbed Alpine-style. Habeler attempted to climb Everest again in 2000 but failed to do so due to fluid in his lungs. Habeler became a skiing instructor at age 21 and founded the Peter Habeler Ski and Mountaineering School in his hometown of Mayrhofen, Austria. The school is now run by his son, though Habeler still teaches on occasion. At age 74, he repeated an ascent on The Eiger's north face with David Lama.

5. Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 44.12, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is the 5th most famous Austrian Mountaineer.  Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner (born 13 December 1970) is an Austrian mountaineer. In August 2011, she became the second woman to climb the fourteen eight-thousanders and the first woman to do so without using supplemental oxygen or high-altitude porters. In 2012, she won the prestigious National Geographic Explorer of the Year Award.

6. David Lama (1990 - 2019)

With an HPI of 34.13, David Lama is the 6th most famous Austrian Mountaineer.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

David Lama (Nepali: डेभिड लामा; 4 August 1990 – 16 April 2019) was an Austrian rock climber and alpinist. He won the European Championship in competition bouldering in 2007 and the European Championship in competition lead climbing in 2006. He is known for his first free ascent of the Compressor Route (South-East Ridge) on Cerro Torre. In 2018, in a solo expedition, he was the first to reach the summit of Lunag Ri in the Himalayas. In 2019, he was posthumously honoured with a Piolet d'Or for this first ascent.