Karl Unterkircher

Unterkircher ( born August 27, 1970 in Selva di Val Gardena, † July 15, 2008 on Nanga Parbat ) was an Italian mountaineer, ice climbers and extreme skiers from South Tyrol.

Life

As a boy, were sub Kircher's pastimes football and skiing. After secondary school, he was an auto mechanic. At 15, he began the first climbing attempts. In the military service, he was burdock trainers at the mountain paratroopers. After years of his career, he graduated in 1997 mountaineer mountain guides exam.

In 2004 he celebrated his biggest success: the ascent of Mount Everest and K2 within two months of each other without the use of supplemental oxygen. He has also been included in the Guinness Book of World Records 2008 for this achievement.

Together with Hans Kammerlander him on 22 May 2007 succeeded in the ascent of the climb is technically very difficult south face of Jasemba ( 7350m, Himalaya ). On 20 July 2007 Unterkirchner reached together with Daniele Bernasconi and Michele Compagnoni the summit of Gasherbrum II, after they had fully risen for the first time its northern wall.

In July 2008, crashed Unterkircher during an expedition to Nanga Parbat fatal. As you climb through the Rakhiot - ice wall he crashed during the crossing a snow field in a circa 15 -meter-deep crevice. Due to the extreme conditions he could not be rescued by his comrades Simon Kehrer and Walter Nones. But Simon Kehrer succeeded at the descent into the crevasse, dig up the corpse of the snow.

He left behind his partner and three children in Selva / Val Gardena ( Dolomites South Tyrol).

Honors

  • Honorary citizen of Wolkenstein, 2004 ( Val Gardena )
  • Cavaliere Ufficiale al Merito della Repubblica Italiana dell'Ordine 2006 ( Order of Merit of the Ital. Republic)
  • Guinness Record, 2008 ( for the ascent of Everest and K2 within 63 days )
  • 1st Prize Riccardo Cassin, 2007
  • " Cator d'or " - special award for alpine climbing performance by the guild Catores Ortisei
  • 1st prize Paolo Consiglio, May 2008, obtained from the Academic Alpine Club Italy (Club Alpino Italiano Accademico - CAAI ) for the successful, conducted in alpine style ascent of Gasherbrum II

Unterkircher Award

The idea of ​​establishing a working group for the award of the " Karl Unterkirchner Award" from a common desire the name Karl Unterkirchner in alpine regions continue to maintain and honor, was born. The people in the group who knew him during his life personally. The award is aimed at mountaineers, who have made a special and challenging performance in mountaineering expeditions or in alpine style. The award, judged by an international jury, will be awarded in the form of a price and money and is a recognition award. Host the award ceremony is Wolkenstein. 2010 was the climber Ueli Steck the price. The recipients of the now awarded every two years the prize were in 2012 the Ladies Trio Kopteva (Ukraine ) for the ascent of Great Trango Tower in Pakistan.

Publications

  • Silke Unterkirchner, Cristina Marrone: The last embrace of the mountain, Malik, National Geographic 2010, ISBN 9783492403924
  • Walter Nones, Simon Kehrer: Devil's Wall: The tragedy of the Kircher expedition on Nanga Parbat. From the Italian by Christine Kopp, Malik 2010, ISBN 3890293786
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