One of the best

Last Thursday, Auer, Fiegl and Bluemel had set off to first climb the South Wall of Nilgiri South. According to a first statement of Auer they were successful and reached the summit on Sunday. The accident happened during the descent, Fiegl obviously slipped. Further details are not yet known. Gerhard called “Gerry” Fiegl is among the best young climbers in Austria. In March, he opened – along with his friend Hansjoerg Auer – a new difficult mixed route in his home Oetztal. In 2014, Gerry and the South Tyrolean Simon Gietl climbed to the summit of the legendary granite mountain Fitz Roy in Patagonia within only 21.5 hours (look at the video).

Fiegl also often climbed along with Alex Bluemel, for instance in 2013, when they did some amazing climbs in Alaska.

PS: Yesterday I deliberately refrained from disclosing the identity of the fallen climber. Austrian media were less restraint and now Gerry’s name is also mentioned in other countries. My thoughts are with the Austrian climber, his family and friends.

Nilgiri South

Sad news from the Austrian expedition to the South Face of the 6839-meter-high Nilgiri South in the Annapurna massif in Nepal: A spokesman of the Austrian Foreign Office confirmed to me that one of the three climbers who had started their first summit attempt last Thursday was missing. According to him, the climber slipped during the descent and fell about 800 meters deep while his two team mates were looking on in horror. The two climbers descended to Base Camp. Fog and snowfall hampered the helicopter rescue operation. The search was going on, the spokesman said. He gave no details about the climber who fell into the depth adding that they were in touch with his relatives.

The well-know Austrian climber Hansjoerg Auer and his compatriots Alexander Bluemel and Gerhard Fiegl, both mountain guides from Tyrol, had tried to first climb the South Face of Nilgiri South. The Foreign Office spokesman said, he did not know whether the three climbers were on their descent from the top or turned back before reaching the summit.
The mountain was first climbed on 10 October 1978 by a Japanese expedition that was led by Kazao Mitsui, the climbers ascended from North via the East Ridge to the top. In 2003, Japanese climbers succeeded in opening a new route via the West Col and the North Face. Since the 1980s there have been several attempts by Japanese, Czech and Slowenian climbers to reach the summit of Nilgiri South via the South Face but all failed. The most successful was the try of the Slowenian team led by Tadej Golob who climbed up to an altitude of 6,600 meters until they were forced back by strong winds, fog and snowfall.

Update: A representative of the Nepalese Tourism Ministry told AFP that the missed climber was 27 years old. Hansjoerg Auer is four years older. Although the name of the victim is already circulating on the Internet, I will publish it only if it is confirmed.

Nilgiri South

The push is on. The Austrian Team that tries to first climb the South Face of the 6839-meter-high Nilgiri South in the Annapurna massif in Nepal has set off for their first summit attempt. I was told this by a speaker of Hansjoerg Auer in Austria. On Wednesday Hansjoerg had tweeted that their acclimatization was coming to an end and that their first attempt was about to start. Auer is climbing along with his compatriots Alexander Bluemel and Gerhard Fiegl.

Successes by Japanese climbers

Nilgiri South was first climbed on 10 October 1978 by a Japanese expedition that was led by Kazao Mitsui, the climbers ascended from North via the East Ridge to the top. In 2003, Japanese climbers succeeded in opening a new route via the West Col and the North Face. Since the 1980s there have been several attempts by Japanese, Czech and Slowenian climbers to reach the summit of Nilgiri South via the South Face but all failed. The most successful was the try of the Slowenian team led by Tadej Golob who climbed up to an altitude of 6,600 meters until they were forced back by strong winds, fog and snowfall.

First ascent of Kunyang Chhish East

Hansjoerg Auer (in 2013)

The 31-year-old Hansjoerg Auer has made headlines with his free solo climbs like the difficult Fish route through the South Face of Marmolada in the Dolomites. In 2013, Hansjoerg – along with this brother Matthias and the Swiss Simon Anthamatten – first climbed Kunyang Chhish East (7,400 m) in Pakistan via the 2,700-meter-high Southwest Face. This first ascent was nominated for the Piolet d’Or 2014 but later not awarded.  Then Hansjoerg blamed the jury of having dealt “superficially with our adventure”.