Karl Unterkircher (27 August 1970 – 15 July 2008) was an Italian

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

. He is mostly known for opening new mountain routes. Unterkircher was born in

Sëlva Sëlva (; ; ) is a (municipality) and a village in the Val Gardena in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about east of the city of Bolzano. The Ladin language, Ladin and Italian place names derive from the Latin word ("wood"). History Coat ...

. In 2004, he was the first alpinist to climb the two highest peaks on Earth (

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

and K2) without oxygen in the same year (within 63 days) he made the second ascent of Mount Genyen, China, (first ascent by Japanese in 1987) and the first ascent of the North face of

Gasherbrum II Gasherbrum II (; ; ); surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan and ...

(together with Daniele Bernasconi and Michele Compagnoni). He also climbed the Jasemba,

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, (together with

Hans Kammerlander Hans Kammerlander (born 6 December 1956, Sand in Taufers, South Tyrol, Italy) is an Italian mountaineer, living in Ahornach, a hamlet nearby Sand in Taufers. He has climbed 11 of the 14 8000m peaks. In 1984, together with Reinhold Messner he ...

). He received several awards including the

Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republic, it is awarded for ...

. On 15 July 2008 he fell into a

crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet. Crevasses form as a result of the movement and resulting stress associated with the shear stress generated when two semi-rigid pieces above a plastic substrate have different rate ...

while descending from the summit of

Nanga Parbat Nanga Parbat () (; ), known locally as Diamer (), is the ninth-highest mountain on Earth and its summit is at above sea level. Lying immediately southeast of the northernmost bend of the Indus River in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-a ...

and is presumed dead. "Karl Unterkircher was the new star of mountain climbing", commented

Reinhold Messner Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian climber, explorer, and author from the German-speaking province of South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent o ...

when told of his death.

Karl Unterkircher Award

This award was conferred for the first time in July 2010 in Sëlva to the Swiss rock climber

Ueli Steck Ueli Steck (; 4 October 1976 – 30 April 2017) was a Swiss rock climber and alpinist. He was the first to climb Annapurna solo via its South Face (though this is disputed by some), and set speed records on the North Face trilogy in the Alps. ...

. The second edition took place on 6 July 2012. The winners of this award were Marina Kopteva, Galina Chibitok and Anna Yasinskaya (Ukraine) for their new opening of the northwest wall route Great Trango Tower (Pakistan). The 3rd edition prize was given on July 23, 2014 to the brothers Auer Hansjörg and Matthias (A) and their climbing friend Simon Anthamatten (CH) for the first ascent of the east face of Kunyuang Chhish (Karakorum / Pakistan) on July 18, 2013. On 14 July 2018 Italian Simone Moro, Spaniard Alex Txikon and Pakistani Muhammad Ali were awarded the 5th Karl Unterkircher for the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat (8126m) on 26 February 2016. The Jury of the 5th edition of the Karl Unterkircher Award, composed by Silvio Mondinelli "Gnaro" (President), Thomas Huber, Carlo Caccia, Simon Kehrer and Hubert Moroder, announced the name of the winners at the Culture House "Oswald von Wolkenstein" in Selva di Val Gardena.

References

External links

Official homepage

Karl Unterkircher feared lost on Nanga Parbat.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unterkircher, Karl 1970 births 2008 deaths Deaths on Nanga Parbat People from Sëlva Italian mountain climbers Italian summiters of Mount Everest Mountaineering deaths Sport deaths in Pakistan