athlete
Dream paid for with life: climber Stitzinger dead
Luis Stitzinger’s body was found in the Himalayas. The experienced mountain and ski guide repeatedly climbed high mountains, such as here on the Elmer Muttekopf. photo
© Benedikt Siegert/dpa
The well-known extreme athlete was recently found dead in the Himalayas. While his wife publicly says goodbye, his body is to be flown out of the mountain.
High-altitude mountaineering is always a dance on the knife’s edge, but this time it took a fatal outcome for the renowned extreme mountaineer Luis Stitzinger: the Allgäu native, known for spectacular ski descents from the highest mountains in the world, died while working on a solo project in the Himalayas.
Now a team of helpers is trying to recover his body from the 8586 meter high Kangchenjunga and bring it to the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. The mortal remains of the mountain and ski guide are to be taken to the second high camp in order to be flown out from there, as Mingma Sherpa, head of the company Seven Summit Treks, which organizes the expedition, told the German Press Agency today.
public mourning
Meanwhile, Stitzinger’s wife, the well-known high-altitude climber Alix von Melle, publicly said goodbye to her partner on the shared Instagram account. “The 25 years by your side were the best of my life,” von Melle posted on Wednesday after the experienced expedition leader’s body was found the day before.
“The mountains were your life and ours. The Kangchenjunga was your big life dream, which you still wanted so badly to fulfill. Your eyes shone with enthusiasm when you talked about him.”
The Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain on earth and one of the most rarely climbed eight-thousanders – because it is so difficult to reach and with its confusing summit structure and the long summit day for the piece from the last camp to the highest point, it also makes extremely high demands on the aspirants.
Incident details
According to Billi Bierling, head of the “Himalayan Database” chronicle of all ascents of the expedition mountains in Nepal, Stitzinger had reached the summit without bottled oxygen and with his own luggage after 22 hours at the extreme altitude very late on Thursday afternoon.
As Bierling, who was involved in organizing the rescue operation, reported to the “Bayerischer Rundfunk” and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, according to his last radio message, Stitzinger then wanted to leave his ski depot at an altitude of around 8,300 meters for the next camp. He never got there in the dark.
“Climbing a high mountain and then skiing down it was his trademark,” said Manfred Lorenz, co-managing director of the tour operator DAV Summit Club, for which Stitzinger had organized and led expeditions for many years. The 54-year-old was a very prudent and careful mountain guide. But: “High-altitude mountaineering is always a border crossing, it works five times well and one time, unfortunately, it goes wrong.”
Passionate mountaineer
“His death affects us very much,” emphasized mountain guide Stefan Winter, who is well known to Stitzinger, on behalf of the German Alpine Club. “Luis Stitzinger was a passionate mountaineer and always meticulous in his preparation, risk-aware and concerned about safety. With his skiing on the eight-thousanders, he was one of the few who set new standards in high-altitude mountaineering.”
The “big mountain skier” made his tracks in the snow on numerous eight-thousanders, he reached others on foot. The East Allgäu native, who lives in Füssen, celebrated several of his summit successes together with his wife.