Biography

Kurt Diemberger, born March 16, 1932 in Villach (Carinthia), is an Austrian mountaineer, photographer, film director and writer. He is one of only two mountaineers, with Hermann Buhl, to have made a first ascent on two peaks over eight thousand meters. In 1978, he accompanied the first French expedition that succeeded in climbing Everest in the company of the French Jean Afanassieff, Pierre Mazeaud and Nicolas Jaeger. In 1957, Kurt Diemberger participated in the first ascent of Broad Peak (8,047 meters), in an Austro-German team led by Marcus Schmuck and including Hermann Buhl. The same year, still with Hermann Buhl, he attempted the ascent of Chogolisa (7,665 meters). They could not reach the summit, stopped by the storm at 7,300 meters above sea level. Kurt Diemberger was the last person to see his teammate, who fell to his death on the descent when a cornice gave way beneath him at 7,200 metres. In 1960, Kurt Diemberger made the first ascent of Dhaulagiri as part of a Swiss expedition of which he was the only Austrian member. 26 years later, during the expedition of seven Austrian and British climbers led by Alan Rouse on K2, he was one of only two survivors of the expedition, during the snowstorm that wiped out the group on 10 August 1986, six days after reaching the summit of the mountain. Kurt Diemberger then continued to be active in the world of mountaineering, for example preparing various high-altitude expeditions from the Chinese province of Xinjiang and working on film projects on the mountain, together with his daughter. In 2013, Kurt Diemberger received the Piolet d’or career, Walter Bonatti Prize.