Höhenbergsteigen

Once again, the Austrian Board of Trustees for Alpine Safety organized the Alpine Forum as part of the Innsbruck Alpine Trade Fair. Every year, numerous experts report to an interested specialist audience on a highly topical and hotly debated subject. The trend towards more and more mountain rescue missions in summer and winter, the increasing pressure to perform, the professionalization of alpinism and the winter topics of avalanches, falls and cold led to this year's key question: "Mountaineering - only healthy?". This question was explored in four different thematic blocks. We at PowderGuide were able to take part in the exciting presentations, the sometimes heated debates and the impressive field reports and would like to report on our personal highlights below.

Old love rekindled, Kyrgyzstan, a country of contrasts. While the north of the country is characterized by the urban influence of the capital Bishkek, which often manifests itself in rampant alcoholism and corruption, in the south we find what we had hoped for: Semi-nomads who are close to nature, full of joie de vivre and who welcome us with warm-hearted hospitality.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and her husband and rope partner Ralf Dujmovits have been known to the general public at least since their summit success on K2, the world's most difficult eight-thousander. By climbing the second highest mountain in the world in 2011, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner became the first woman ever to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without the aid of bottled oxygen. Ralf Dujmovits was the first German to complete the series back in 2009 with his ascent of Lhotse. In the book 2 x 14 eight-thousanders, recently published by Bruckmann Verlag, many of the experiences of the two top mountaineers on the world's highest mountains are recounted in words and pictures.

The two extreme athletes and speed climbers The two extreme athletes and speed climbers Benedikt Böhm and Sebastian Haag wanted to ski up and down Pakistan's Broad Peak in the shortest possible time. But miserable weather turned the tour into a race against time...

Munich vet Sebastian Haag and sports manager Benedikt Böhm share a great passion: speed climbing high mountains. This means that the two of them climb various giant mountains at record speed, – and then ski down them even faster. Together they form the Gore-Tex Dynafit expedition team, which has already achieved several eight-thousanders and other highly acclaimed successes. Their latest project: the 8047 m high Broad Peak in Pakistan.

We have reached our camp IV and are on the Denali Pass. If the altitude is correct, we are at about 5750 meters. It is now 22:30, the sun is setting and we are doing relatively well. It has taken us seven hours to get here from the last camp. We are very lucky, there is almost no wind. We are quite exposed, if the wind came up we would have big problems.

The two extreme alpinists Stephan Keck and Günter Burgsteiner embarked on a very special (goal) tour at the end of winter 2009: The ascent of the 6,194 m high Mount McKinley (called Denali in Alaska).