Otto Meiling (1902–1989) was a German-born mountaineer who achieved many first ascents in

Nahuel Huapi National Park Nahuel Huapi National Park () is the oldest national park in Argentina, established in 1934. It surrounds Nahuel Huapi Lake in the foothills of the Patagonian Andes. The largest of the national parks in the region, it has an area of , or nearly ...

and the surrounding area. Meiling left Bavaria for Buenos Aires in his early twenties, working as a labourer, learning the skills of carpentry and construction. He gained a taste for adventure, then moved to San Carlos de Bariloche, at the time a small village, in the Lakes District, near

Cerro Catedral Cerro Catedral is a mountain located from San Carlos de Bariloche, and inside the Nahuel Huapí National Park, in Patagonia, Argentina. The mountain is the biggest ski center in South America and in the Southern Hemisphere, with a skiable ...

. There, he began exploring the nearby peaks with friends, mainly other German immigrants. He soon founded the Club Andino de Bariloche with them, a highly successful mountaineering club that still exists. After making a number of first ascents in the area, he was introduced to the new sport of skiing, which he became passionate about, making many long ski trips, and beginning to teach skiing, and manufacturing skis and bindings. At one point he returned to his home land, visiting his family, but also receiving further training in skiing, mountaineering, and bringing back a large supply of ski bindings. Over the years, his exploits with the club grew bolder, including ascents of Mount Tronador, Cerro San Lorenzo, Cerro San Valentino, and later, thwarted attempts on Cerro Paine in Chile's

Torres del Paine The Cordillera Paine is a mountain group in Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia. The cordillera is located north of Punta Arenas, and about south of the Chilean capital Santiago. It belongs to the Commune of Torres del Paine i ...

national park. However, Tronador would be his favourite mountain, with more than 15 recorded summit ascents, including a one-day ascent from and return to Pampa Linda at the age of 78.''Un Pionero de Bariloche, Otto Meiling: Conquistador de Cumbres y Filosofo del Cerro Otto'', Vojko Arko. Other adventures included descending the treacherous Rio Manso, and a phenomenal 96 kilometre walk home from the end of a hike in one night. As an active member of the club, Meiling used his construction skills to build a number of huts or "refugios" in the mountains, including the "Berghof" ski school near Cerro Otto (named after a different explorer) where he would live for most of his life. He also built a hut high up on Mount Tronador, nestled between two glaciers, which would later be renamed Refugio Otto Meiling. Tronador from Pampa Linda Stevage

Later life

As Meiling grew older, he became something of a hermit, and gained a reputation for his uncompromising frugal ways and distaste for modern mountaineering. He was vehemently opposed to the construction of the

ski resort, and when the club he founded started to orient its activities there, he became somewhat estranged from it. As a result, his lift-less ski school at Cerro Otto began to lose students, as they were attracted by the less arduous conditions at Catedral. Throughout his life he remained in astonishing physical condition, walking huge distances at high speed. One friend and later biographer remarked that it was only when hiking with Otto in his 80s that he was able to keep up with him for the first time. Meiling died in 1989, finally succumbing to a number of health problems.

Sources

*''Un Pionero de Bariloche, Otto Meiling: Conquistador de Cumbres y Filosofo del Cerro Otto'', Vojko Arko. {{DEFAULTSORT:Meiling, Otto German mountain climbers Bariloche 1902 births 1989 deaths German emigrants to Argentina