Classic climber
Christian's climbing followed a classical
trail: Beginning in the Alps, continuing to the Peruvian Andes, then
an attempt to Broad Peak and GII, then Cho Oyu. There he enjoyed
his first 8000+ summit, learning the ropes from his climbing mate,
the Polish lady climber Wanda Rutkiewicz. Next year he'd climb Manaslu
with Krysztof Wielicki, and at the dawn of the new Century, Everest
was summited.
Perhaps due to the influence of the
most powerful climbers of the time, or his alpine climbing background,
Kuntner was a convicted supporter of light expeditions: small groups
of friends, no high altitude Sherpas and no supplementary O2. Silvio
Mondinelli, Marco Bianchi and Stephan Andres were among his climbing
friends.
Perfect mate
In 1999, Christian found his perfect
climbing partner: Abele Blanc. With similar climbing skills and the
same attitude towards mountaineering, the 1999 season in the Karakorum,
when they climbed both GI and GII, was the beginning of a long friendship.
They were both pursuing Annapurna's evasive summit to finish the
Fourteen Great ones. When they attempted Annapurna for the third
time, they had made already four expeditions together.
Although shy, Abele Blanc has an aura
of old-time chivalry about him. Mountain guide by heart and breed – he
was born in Aosta Valley, at the foot of Mont Blanc – his character
is similar to those described in the old, epic mountaineering novels
from the first half of the twentieth century about heroic mountain
guides in the Alps. His online diary is full of deep impressions
and beautiful descriptions of the experiences he lives and the places
he’s passed through.
Shy hearts
Kuntner had climbed all 8000ers without
supplementary O2 or Sherpa support. Abele Blanc had summited all
but Everest and Kangchenjunga without bottled oxygen. They attempted
Annapurna south face through the south side in 2003. Kuntner had
attempted it in 2002 as well. However, high Himalayan Mountains were
not the pair’s only passion. In 2002, they climbed 64 of the
Alp’s 84, 4000ers. Bad weather conditions prevented them from
climbing them all, but Christian expected to finish the call this
summer.
The accomplished climbers were not
so well known among the international climbing community, or the
general media. Both Kuntner and Blanc were rather shy, avoiding widely
advertised expeditions and big media fuss.
Like Messner, Kuntner, 43, was born
in Stelvio meadows (South Tyrol). But while Messner has become a
world-wide famous mountaineering star, Kuntner rejected the notion
of being a climbing celebrity (or even talking to journalists). On
the rare occasion that he went on record, he used as few words as
possible. He muttered to an Ansa.it journalist last month, “I
climb for myself, not for anyone else. I don’t have anything
to prove.”
2003 - an intense year
2003 was an intense year for Christian.
During the spring, he climbed a new route on Kangchenjunga. Summiting
late in the day in bad weather, there was no time to enjoy the achievement.
His concern would soon turn into worry when the Spanish climber Carlos
Pauner disappeared during the descent. Two days after, they declared
their companion as missing. But then Carlos appeared like a ghost,
alive and kicking.
Just a few months later, Christian
was ready for his third attempt on Annapurna, and chose no other
side that the impressive south face.
Annapurna:
"
How long will this Mountain want to fight me?"
At 7500m, they ran out of ropes to
fix. Christian described the climb as a 60-90 degree ice wall, and
rock sections of about V raising 3km from the void. "It was
late, already 12:30, but I wanted to keep on climbing, and to get
to the top. My friends said no, the descent in the middle of the
night would have been too dangerous. Even so, it was hard to accept
their arguments." Finally the decision was taken; they were
too tired to stay another night in C3, they had to abort the summit
bid at 7550m.
Back in BC, a desolated Kuntner would
write "How long will this Mountain want to fight me? In 1997
it snowed without a break during a whole month. Last year we had
more of the same. This year (2003), for two days, I thought that,
at last, Annapurna was holding its hand to me in friendship. Just
before starting to abseil, I raised my head and looked at the summit,
muttering to myself: I'll come back, and, this time, please let me
have you."
Mountain Poem
Donatella, his bike-partner on the
Silk route, got to know the shy climber better than most. She wrote
a poem, reproduced on Christian's web site, titled Wer bist Du? (Who
are you?). Here is a (rough) translation. Who was Christian Kuntner?
We'll never really know. But a mountaineering poem gives a good clue.
Wer bist du?
In the Blue of the glacier,
The color of my eyes,
In the haul of the wind,
My breathing,
In the symphony of
Thousand lights,
My voice,
In the uproar of avalanches
My unquiet heart,
In the crystal glitter of
Snow my clear mind,
In the darkness of the underground
My fear,
In its beauty
My happiness,
In its inhospitableness
The sweat of my
Perseverance,
In its realm
My modesty,
In its silence
My peace,
In its immeasurable
Widths my liberty, in its eternity
My ecstasy.
The mountain - my life.
Christian Kuntner (South Tirol, 1962) climbed 14, 8000+ mountains: Cho
Oyu in 1991, Manaslu in 1992, Broad Peak in 1993, Dhaulagiri in 1994,
Everest through the North West Ridge 1995, K2 in 1996 by the Japanese
route through North face, Shisha Pangma in 1998 (descent on Skies),
GI and GII in 1999, Makalu in 2000, Nanga Parbat in 2001, Kangchenjunga
by a new route in 2003, Lhotse in 2004 and finally Annapurna in 2005.
Christian returned for his ultimate climb after former attempts in
1997 (north side), 2002 and 2003 (south side). In 2005, the mountain
became his final climb. Christian died on Annapurna's North side today,
on May 18, in an ice avalanche after descending from the summit with
Gnaro Mondinelli.
Abele Blanc summited his 13th 8000er,
Dhaulagiri, in 2001. Christian Kuntner summited his 13th, Lhotse,
on the 15th of May, 2004. This spring they joined forces again to
attempt Annapurna through the North Side, and thus complete the 14
8000ers’ list.
Image of Abele Blanc (left) and Christian
Kuntner (right), courtesy of Christiankuntner.com
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