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 Eight-thousander: of Broad Peak in 1957 and of Dhaulagiri in 1960.[
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Career
Diemberger attended university in Vienna, where he obtained two degrees (MBA 1955, M.Ed 1962). Together with Hermann Buhl, he is one of two mountaineers who have successfully made the first ascents on two Eight-thousander. In 1957, Diemberger was the last person to see Hermann Buhl alive before he fell through a cornice on Chogolisa.
Diemberger was one of only two survivors in the 1986 K2 Disaster. On 4 August 1986, Diemberger and Julie Tullis reached the summit of K2 very late in the day. Shortly after starting their descent, Tullis fell and dragged Diemberger down with her. They somehow stopped from going over the edge and spent the night above 8,000 metres. They managed to reach Camp IV the next day, where they were forced to share two tents with six other climbers after their tent had collapsed from hurricane force winds. Tullis died later that night, possibly from high altitude cerebral edema, and only one other climber, Austrian Willi Bauer, survived the descent with Diemberger.
In 2013, Diemberger won the 5th Piolet d'Or "Lifetime Achievement Award".
Diemberger is still active in the mountaineering world and works on film projects with his daughter, Hildegard.
Books
Diemberger has written the following books:
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The Endless Knot : K2, Mountain of Dreams and Destiny, 1991. Translated into English by Audrey Salkeld.
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Summits and secrets, 1991. Translated into English by Hugh Merrick, first published 1971.
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Spirits of the Air, 1994
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K2 : Challenging the Sky, 1997
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The Kurt Diemberger Omnibus, 1999
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K2. Traum und Schicksal, 2001 (German)
See also
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List of Austrian mountain climbers
External links
