Karl Blodig (16 October 1859 – 7 September 1956) was an Austrian

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

optician An optician, or ''dispensing optician'', is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the nec ...

, and writer. Blodig was the first to successfully climb all Alpine peaks of over 4000 meters, completing his final summit around 1911. He wrote about these climbs in his book ''Die Viertausender der Alpen'' (''The Four-Thousanders of the Alps''), first published in 1923.

Mountaineering Life

Born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Blodig spent his early years in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

, climbing Mount

Triglav Triglav (; german: Terglau; it, Tricorno), with an elevation of , is the highest mountain in Slovenia and the highest peak of the Julian Alps. The mountain is the pre-eminent symbol of the Slovene nation. It is the centrepiece of Triglav Nati ...

while still in his teens. At the age of twenty he climbed

Monte Rosa : , other_name = Monte Rosa massif , translation = Mount Rose , photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg , photo_caption = Central Mon ...

, guided by Christian Ranggetiner, and by twenty-three he had made non-guided ascents of the

Dufourspitze , it, Punta Dufour, rm, Piz da Dufour , translation = Peak Dufour, Highest Peak, Large Horn , photo = Monte Rosa summit.jpg , photo_size = , photo_caption = From the peak to the southeast towards Italy, the Dunantspi ...

Zumsteinspitze The Zumsteinspitze (Punta Zumstein in Italian) (4,563 m) is a peak in the Pennine Alps on the border between Italy and Switzerland. It is a subpeak of Monte Rosa. The summit lies between the Dufourspitze (to which it is joined by the ''Grenzs ...

, and

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Val ...

. Between 1890 and 1911 he succeeded in climbing the remaining peaks to achieve all those summits that were at that time listed as being over 4,000 m in height. These achievements included first ascents of the Brouillard Ridge on

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...

as well as the first traverse of the Rochefort Ridge. Among his alpine climbing partners were

Ludwig Purtscheller Ludwig Purtscheller (6 October 1849 – 3 March 1900) was an Austrian mountaineer and teacher. Purtscheller pioneered climbing without a mountain guide, who in the 19th century did all the route finding and lead climbing. By the end of his life ...

and the Alpine artist Edward Theodore Compton.Helmut Dumler and Willi P. Burkhardt, ''The High Mountains of the Alps'', London: Diadem, 1994. Around 1911 Blodig was part of a regular mountaineering meeting at

Pen-y-Pass Pen-y-Pass is a mountain pass in Snowdonia, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is a popular location from which to walk up Snowdon, as three of the popular routes (the Miners Track, the Pyg Track and the ascent via Crib Goch) can be started here. ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, among whom was

George Mallory George Herbert Leigh Mallory (18 June 1886 – 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. Born in Cheshire, Mallory became a student at Winche ...

. Blodig observed Mallory expertly tackling a crux pitch of a very difficult ice chimney. Even though all the climbing friends present were impressed by Mallory's skill as a climber, Blodig later observed rather prophetically about Mallory that: "that young man will not be alive for long!" In 1932, and at the age of 73, Blodig undertook solo ascents of the Aiguille du Jardin and the Grande Rocheuse in order to achieve summits that had subsequently been added to the recognised list of 4,000 m peaks since his 1911 achievement.

Works

* ''Die Viertausender der Alpen''. Munich: Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, 1923. * ''Bilder aus Vorarlberg und Liechtenstein'', no year. * ''Durch's Montafon. Mit Karte aus Gerster’s Handkarte von Vorarlberg 1:175.000''. Bregenz: J. N. Teutsch, no year. * ''Vorarlberg das österreichische Rheinland. Ein Führer durch die Sommerfrischen Wintersportplätze, Berge und Täler des Landes''. Bregenz, 1928. * ''Die Viertausender der Alpen'', 2nd ed., Munich: Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, no year, (with Helmut Dumler). * ''Die Viertausender der Alpen'', 5th ed., Munich: Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, 1968 (with Helmut Dumler).

References

1859 births 1956 deaths Austrian mountain climbers Sportspeople from Graz People from Graz in health professions {{Climbing-bio-stub