Hermann Buhl

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jgill

Boulder climber

The high prairie of southern Colorado

Nov 1, 2015 - 04:14pm PT

Buhl had a far, far greater influence on my perception of climbing than anyone else in the mid and late 1950s. His description of soloing the Fleischbank Südost - over 1,200 feet high - and other similar climbs captured my imagination. He stated that he wanted to find his limits and that solo climbing was the only way. I took that to heart and began soloing in the late 1950s, wandering up walls and ridges and pinnacles in the Tetons and the Needles and elsewhere, frequently exploring virgin territory and gradually pushing myself toward those illusive, ill-defined limits.

Bouldering was a separate activity that I enjoyed immensely, but there was nothing to compare with the sense of freedom and ultimate responsibility that soloing provided. After I quit difficult bouldering at the age of fifty I continued solo exploration, putting up route after route of mild difficulty (none of which I revealed to others, save occasionally friends like John Sherman - who accompanied me on solo climbs in the Granite mountains). Buhl's voice continued to resonate until I retired from the climbing world in 2006.

Kalimon

Social climber

Ridgway, CO

Nov 1, 2015 - 04:28pm PT

Wonderful post Mr. Gill!

tuolumne_tradster

Trad climber

Leading Edge of North American Plate

Nov 1, 2015 - 08:52pm PT

One of Buhl's sweaters displayed in the Haus der Berge museum in Berchtesgaden.

Marlow

Sport climber

OSLO

Jun 9, 2016 - 10:00am PT

Hermann Buhl carried through the streets of München after his FA of Nanga Parbat 1953. His 2 years old daughter Kriemhilde on the right.

Hermann Buhl with his wife Eugenie as driver because of his amputated toes (1953)

Brokedownclimber

Trad climber

Douglas, WY

Jun 9, 2016 - 10:18am PT

Buhl was--and remains--my idol. During my 2 year "vacation at government expense" between 1963 & 1964 in Europe, I climbed with one of his old partners, Helmut Pfanzelt, from Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I was regaled with the stories of the "madman," and his irrepressible quest for the summits. He also was not adverse to doing dynos on hard routes.

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Jun 9, 2016 - 10:42am PT

Regarding the Bust-o-Buhl above, it's worth a mention that Phil Bircheff carved that and the one behind of Muir in his campsite at Tuttle Creek. Pretty amazing stuff. He's a master.

He quarries his own stone too...

jogill

climber

Colorado

Jun 9, 2016 - 10:56am PT

I climbed at Devil's Lake in 1958 with a German climber/mathematician who had known Buhl. He described a boulder problem somewhere near Munich that only Buhl could do when a group attacked it. He said Buhl "used a fingerhold the width of a matchstick."

That description stuck with me for all these intervening years.

Don Paul

Big Wall climber

Denver CO

Sep 16, 2016 - 06:42pm PT

I'm halfway through reading Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage. It's a very scary book. Translated from German, and written 60 years ago, it's like reading a fairy tale, but beyond extreme. I picked up an old copy for $6, thinking I would bring it on a trip someday, but its not going to last until then. You can also get a pdf copy of it for free, just google the title.

rgold

Trad climber

Poughkeepsie, NY

Sep 16, 2016 - 10:44pm PT

John, was that Helmut Ruhl?

steveA

Trad climber

Wolfeboro, NH

Sep 17, 2016 - 04:31am PT

Here is a bit of trivia concerning Buhl:

In 1975, I went off to climb the Walker Spur, with John Bouchard. John's mother-in-law lived in Chamonix, and for years put up many climbers; including Buhl.
John needed a pair of wool socks for the climb, and his wife's mother gave him a pair, mentioning that they were left in the house by Buhl.
On the summit pitch, a violent storm hit us, where Bouchard, and Voytech Kurtyka were both hit by lightning.

After we got down, John discovered that there were burn holes in his mittens, and socks. Perhaps John kept those socks for good luck!

jgill

Boulder climber

The high prairie of southern Colorado

Sep 17, 2016 - 01:35pm PT

Yes, Rich.

Helmut Röhrl

Helmut also told me Buhl could do a one finger chin-up, but I think he was pulling my leg. Nevertheless, the thought did inspire me and I did one on the horizontal bar in Bartlett Gym!

Chris Jones

Social climber

Glen Ellen, CA

Sep 18, 2016 - 12:38pm PT

Buhl’s 1956 book, “Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage”, along with Rebuffat’s “Starlight and Storm,” were our early reference points and inspiration. In the late 1950s, high-standard UK alpine climbing was just getting going, but here were these continental Europeans who were simply kicking ass. We could quote passages from Buhl’s book to each other - about pitons just a few millimeters into the rock, of rockfall, of harrowing bivouacs. And then one of our favorites: the East Face of the Watzmann, “at night, solo, and in winter.” This phrase alone simply trumped any other exploit one might hear about. We could barely imagine doing or enduring any of those things. I was already out of the hard man running, as my first trip to the Alps was by train rather than by bike as Buhl had done. Beaten before we got going.

His climbs in the Alps were to us just phenomenal, and had even more meaning than the Himalayan efforts - here were places we could actually get to if we ever screwed up the courage.