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The expedition was led by Karl Herrligkoffer who subsequently led numerous attempts to climb other eight-thousand meter peaks in the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges. Buhl departed from the high camp around 02:00 on July 3, followed by his climbing partner an hour later.
Following the success of Nanga Parbat, Herrligkoffer turned to Broad Peak (8051m) which was one of only four of the 8000m peaks that had not then been attempted. He organized and led the Munich Expedition in the autumn of 1954.
Oct 27, 2023 · When the 1953 German-Austrian expedition, led by Karl Herrligkoffer, set its sights on Nanga Parbat, it did so with a profound understanding of the mountain’s history of adversity and heartbreak.
Hardcover. $22.95. The Naked Mountain is Reinhold Messner’s account of the 1970 expedition to climb Nanga Parbat’s Rupal Face, led by Karl Herrligkoffer. In it Messner recounts his and his brother Günther’s success in gaining the summit, and the tragic events surrounding Günther’s death on the descent. Finally available in English and ...
- Nanga Parbat, Or The “Killer Mountain”
- Distinctive Features
- The Macabre History of Nanga Parbat
- The Main Ascent Routes of Nanga Parbat
The killer mountain
Nanga Parbat, nicknamed “the killer mountain”, is a summit as fascinating as it is formidable. As of July 11, 2009, 322 intrepid climbers, including 22 women, had succeeded in reaching its summit. However, this merciless mountain has also taken the lives of 68 adventurers. This represents c.22% of attempts to date, bringing the tragic toll to 74 climbers by March 2019. The sinister nickname “killer mountain” was given to it by the German expedition that finally managed to climb its flanks on...
Many disasters
The legendary mountaineer Mummery was the first to tackle the formidable Nanga Parbat. He was followed by two Austrian-German expeditions in 1934 and 1937, which paid a heavy price to this merciless mountain. With its three immense and complex faces exposed to avalanches, Nanga Parbat presents a real challenge in terms of route. Contrary to most other peaks over 8,000 meters, there is no obvious route to the summit. Until the first successful ascent in 1953, mountaineers focused their efforts...
Located at the western end of the Himalayan chain, Nanga Parbat stands out as one of the most imposing and isolated mountain masses on Earth. The altitude difference between the summit and the bottom of the Indus Valley, located only 25 km away, is about 7,000 meters, testifying to its dizzying grandeur. Moreover, the south wall of Nanga Parbat, al...
Mummery and the first attempt
The very first attempt to climb Nanga Parbat was made in 1895 by the greatest English mountaineer of the time, Albert F. Mummery. This historic expedition marked the first attempt to climb a peak over 8,000 meters. Mummery was an experienced climber. He had already accomplished daring ascents, such as the Grépon via the great crack (Mummery crack) and the Matterhorn via the Zmutt ridge. On August 18, 1895, the first serious attempt of the expedition on Nanga Parbat failed at 6,200 meters alti...
A first by the face of the Diamir
In 1962, the Bavarian mountaineers Toni Kinshofer, Siegfried Löw and Anderl Mannhardt succeeded in climbing the Diamir face for the first time. It also marked the second successful ascent of the summit since Hermann Buhl’s. Unfortunately, the descent cost Siegfried Löw his life, while Kinshofer and Mannhardt returned with severe frostbite. This expedition was also organized by K. M. Herrligkoffer.
The Messner Expedition, Success and Tragedy
In 1970, Günther and Reinhold Messner succeeded for the first time in climbing the most difficult face of Nanga Parbat, the south face or Rupal side. They climbed without a rope, but the support rope teams following them, being slower, could not catch up. This forced them to descend via the unexplored and unmarked Diamir side, still without a rope or equipment. According to Reinhold’s accounts, Günther Messner was swept away by an avalanche during the descent. It was not until 2005 that his w...
The Rakhiot slope
The Rakhiot side, also known as the “Buhl route,” is the northern route that was taken during the first successful ascent of Nanga Parbat. It is likely the longest and least steep route to reach the summit. The ascent begins with the Rakhiot Glacier (the base camp in 1953 was located at an altitude of 3,967 meters), located just below the northeast wall. Then, the climbers climb the snow-capped peak of Rakhiot (7,070 m), the Maure Head (Mohrenkopf), and then pass on its eastern slope before r...
The flank of the Diamir of Nanga Parbat
The Diamir flank, which is the western face of Nanga Parbat, was first taken during the 1962 expedition mentioned earlier (the base camp was at about 4,100 meters altitude). The team did not directly use the “Kinshofer route” (the most frequently used route today), but instead chose a route to the left of the wall. In 1978, Reinhold Messner used a more direct route by taking different tracks on the ascent and descent. Towards the end of the climb, the Diamir route intersects with the other ro...
The Rupal side
The Rupal side, facing south, has an impressive height of 4,500 meters. It is bordered on the right by the spectacular southeast fracture. The route, first successfully climbed in 1970, follows the steepest area of the ridge line and crosses very difficult sections towards the end, such as the Merkl couloir (Merkl-Rinne) at 7,350 meters and the Welzenbach glacier (Welzenbach-Eisfeld). An alternative route was taken in 1976 by the reduced expedition led by Hanns Schell, which included four cli...
Buhl formed part of a large German-Austrian expedition led by Dr Karl Herrligkoffer (although leadership was transferred to Peter Aschenbrenner upon reaching base camp) that was wracked by disorganisation.
KARL M. HERRLIGKOFFER. M y third Himalayan expedition set out on April 29, 1961. This time the objective was the Diamir face of Nanga Parbat. The expedition's aims were: To reconnoitre the face and establish the possibilities of a complete ascent, To climb the face as far as the Bazhin hollow by the known route, and.
