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ExWeb Tribute to the Women of K2: Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner
Jun 30, 2004 09: 13 EST
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner has five 8,000ers, most recently bagging Annapurna in May. A near miss on Shisha Pangma sent her and the team down – stopping her short of getting 6 main mountains, which would have put her at the top of the list for living female high-altitude climbers. Only the late Wanda Rutkiewicz has more, with eight 8,000ers.
Right now Gerlinde is in the Gasherbrums Base Camp, planning on a double header GI/GII ascent and then on to K2 to join in the ranks of this season’s female K2 attempts with Edurne Pasaban, Nives Meroi and Eva Zarzuelo. If Gerlinde makes all three mountains it would secure her reputation as the best female high-altitude climber living today.
While waiting out some nasty weather in Pakistan, Gerlinde took some time to satisfy our curiosities about this Austrian frauline. And time is something Gerlinde has had little of these past few months; “After Annapurna Ralf and I were only 6 days at home out of which I had to travel 2 days to Vienna to obtain my Visa for Pakistan. Here now in Pakistan we were very busy and during the approach to BC we had to solve a lot of problems due to lack of porters (who are all engaged by so many K2 expeditions). The last days after arrival in BC we had heavy snowfalls here and the porters couldn't make it to BC anymore. Now we have the computer and all wires with us and I'm happy to find a bit of time for answering your questions.
ExWeb: Would you tell us about what you have planned for this summer? Is it going to be G1 and G2, what routes and any variations? Is K2 in the plans somewhere?
Gerlinde: For the next few weeks I will be climbing Gasherbrum I and II. I want try the normal routes of G I (Japanese Couloir) and GII. Afterwards, if I am o.k. and don't feel too tired I will go to K2; Ralf and Hiro may join me. On K2 we will try to climb the Spanish route (Cesan Route). Since 1994, when I climbed Broad Peak foresummit I have dreamt of climbing K2.
ExWeb: What are you doing when you are not climbing?
Gerlinde: In 2003 I decided to make a living from climbing. As I found some good and very supportive sponsors (LOWA, Schöffel, GoreTex Footwear, Komperdell, Viessmann) I can now use a lot of my time for professional mountaineering. Equally I like rock and ice climbing, ski-touring and mountain biking. During autumn and winter I do a lot of slideshows which also help me financially a lot.
ExWeb: What drives you to climb such difficult mountains? When did you start climbing?
Gerlinde: I started climbing with the help of the priest in the village where I grew up. He was a good climber and every Sunday after church he took us climbing or mountaineering. Since then I spent most of my free time in the mountains enjoying all the different disciplines of mountaineering. Since my childhood my biggest dream was to climb an 8000m-peak and the dream came true at the age of 23 when I climbed the foresummit of Broad Peak. This was the start of a long lasting passion which seems to continue for many years still.
The choices to climb the more difficult eightthousanders is not a question of the difficulties in its own but when I like the shape of a mountain, like for example Makalu, I just feel the wish to go there.
ExWeb: You have some favorite climbing partners; What do you look for in your partners and teammates?
Gerlinde: My favorite climbing partner of course is Ralf. As a team we work very well, we know each other perfectly and trust in each other a lot. For me the most important thing is that a climbing partner be a completely independent climber.
ExWeb: How did you meet Ralf and Hiro?
Gerlinde: Ralf I met for the first time in 2002 when climbing Manaslu. Hiro, who was already a friend of Ralf's, I met for the first time last year when we tried the North Face of Kanchenjunga. Hiro became a very good friend since then. He is a very uncomplicated and nice person and a very strong climber too.
ExWeb: What went through your head when Ralf was struck by the stone on Shisha and again on Annapurna? If he could not make it to the summit of Anna would you have continued without him?
Gerlinde: I had already reached the Central Summit of Shisha Pangma in 2000. Now I was very keen to reach the Mainsummit as well and therefore was happy to have found such a nice line as the one sent by Doug Scott and Alex McIntyre. There was a big chance that we could have climbed Shisha Pangma South Face in Alpine style as after the first few hours we already had climbed an altitude difference of 1000 m. When the rock hit Ralf's leg I knew immediately that we would climb back together, as we did after Ralf tried to continue a few more times. I think we were very lucky as the rock might have hit worse.
ExWeb: Did you hear about Piotr Pustelnik and team on the South Face? When they turned back did you guys think twice about reaching the summit?
Gerlinde: Before we went to Annapurna we were busy on Xifeng Peak and Shisha Pangma South Face and didn't realize who was climbing Annapurna South Face. Usually I don't feel too much influence by the decision of other climbers.
ExWeb: Strictly by the numbers, you have 5 summits of 8,000ers which puts you in the top 5 living female high altitude climbers of the world. Have you met some of the others, like Edurne Pasaban, Christine Boskoff or Nives Meroi, who each have 6 8,000ers or Anna Czerwinska also with 5? What do you feel you have in common with them and what separates you?
Gerlinde: Actually I climbed 5 mainsummits and another 2 foresummits of 8000ers. I never compare myself with the other female 8000er climbers as I never met any of them before. It is very important for me to climb 8000ers without artificial oxygen.
ExWeb: As a woman climber, do you get pressured to settle down - do you feel society is less accepting of women adventurers?
Gerlinde: I decided to be a professional climber and this decision was very much accepted by my friends and family, which was very important for me. I never had the feeling that women adventurers are less accepted by society.
ExWeb: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Gerlinde: So far I don’t spend too much time thinking about my future. I like to live in the present and want to concentrate on my present climbing. I'm not worried about my future.
I love mountaineering a lot and want to enjoy it as long as possible.
Ace female climber, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner has summited Cho Oyu, Makalu, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat at the same time as Iñaki Ochoa de Olza this past summer and most recently Annapurna - thus making 5 8,000ers.
Gerlinde is considered one of the top female high altitude climbers and is the 6th women to ever reach Anna's summit. She also has Shisha Pangma Central and Broad Peak foresummit.
Pre Annapurna, the trio got their feet wet on Shisha Pangma’s South Face, where a kamikaze rock the size of a softball slammed into Ralf's leg. This nearly ruined the team's plans for Annapurna and came close to taking Ralf's life.
Another rockfall almost jeopardized the team’s summit bid on Anna as well. On Sunday a rock struck Ralf's leg in the same place as before this time forcing the team to hold up in Camp 1 for a day.
Ralf Dujmovits is the leader of Amical Alpin and has summited Dhaulagiri, Everest, K2, Cho Oyu twice, Shisha Pangma, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II, Nanga Parbat in 2001 and Annapurna. He now has 9 8,000ers, putting him up there on the big mountain list with the likes of Boukreev who lost his life to Anna in 1997.
Japanese climber Hirotaka has summited Makalu, Everest, K2, Nanga Parbat in 2001 and most recently Annapurna. He summited Everest and K2 back to back in 1996 and became the youngest ever to summit the world's two highest mountains at the age of 25. He now has 5 8,000ers.
Images of Gerlinde and Ralf courtesy of Amical.de
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