25 May 2021
Himalayas, Mountaineering, Fourteen 8000ers
By the end of 1956, ten of the fourteen 8,000+ summits had been climbed by himalayists. Three had succumbed to the brilliance of Austrian mountaineers. Forerunners of the alpine-style expeditions to come, four Austrian mountaineers, including Hermann Buhl, achieved a feat that went almost unnoticed at the time. Without a base camp, without high-altitude Sherpas, without oxygen, they offered themselves a fine piece of bravery. A look back at this little-known expedition.