Oscar Eckenstein

Oscar Johannes Ludwig corner stone ( born September 21, 1859 in Canonbury, † 1921 in Oving, Buckinghamshire ) was a British climber and alpinist German - Jewish descent and inventor of the ten-pointed crampons and the associated corner stone technology.

Life

Oscar corner stone was born as a German father, who left Germany in 1848 as a socialist, and an English mother on 21 September 1859 in Canonbury, London child. He had two sisters, Amelia and Lina. He attended the University College School in London and then studied chemistry in London and Bonn. Socialist like his father, Oscar was an active member of the National Liberal Club. As a railway engineer, he worked for the International Railway Congress Association, an international forum to resolve technical issues in the rail sector. In February 1918, already 58 years old, he married Margery Edwards and settled in the village of Oving near Aylesbury, where he soon afterwards died childless in 1921.

Mountaineering

Corner stone climbed his first mountain at the age of 13 years. In 1886 he entered his first mountain in the Alps. On August 8, 1887 he succeeded, led by Matthias Zurbriggen, the first ascent of the pin horn in the Valais Alps. Around 1890 he met while climbing in the Lake District Aleister Crowley, whose friend, rope companion and mentor he was. More rope companions in Wales were JM Archer Thomson and Geoffrey Winthrop Young and in the Alps. Eugen Guido Lammer, Karl Blodig and the young Paul Preuss, the corner stone introduced over two years towards the Western Alps

1892 took part in the corner stone led by William Martin Conway Karakorumexpedition. In 1902 corner stone was himself head of an Austro -British expedition to K2 ( at the Crowley also took part ), they reached the northeast ridge has a height of 6,600 meters, which at this point a new world altitude record.

Corner stone was a toned athlete and one of the early pioneers of bouldering. According to him, the corner stone boulder is named in Wales.

Inventor

In 1908 corner stone improved the crampons essential. With its ten pips it was already very close to the crampons of modern design. This ten point crampons allowed walking on moderately steep ice to about 35 ° without hitting stages. The foot is thereby bent at the knuckle and set with the full sole right angles to the fall line on the ice. All vertical teeth engage simultaneously. Walking is done diagonally to the slope in serpentine, the pimple is the mountain side support and maintain balance. This technique has been climbing (also Allzackentechnik ) named after their inventor corner stone technology.

Corner stone also developed a short Eisbeil that could be used with only one hand. The hoe had a length of 18 and the shaft 84 centimeters. He was ahead of his time. In England, the response to the innovations initially remained modest, however, one reason might have been the strained relations with the members of the Alpine Club. Corner stone has published over node and the effective use of nailed mountain boots.

Works

  • The Karakoram and Kashmir. T. Fisher Unwin, 1896, ISBN 9781110862030 ( full text in the Google Book Search, accessed 2 April 2010 ).
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