Kurt Albert (January 28, 1954 – September 28, 2010) was a
climber and photographer. He started climbing at the age of 14. Before he committed himself to a career of climbing in 1986, he was a mathematics and physics teacher.
Climbing career
At the age of seventeen, he climbed the Walker Spur in the
Grandes Jorasses
The Grandes Jorasses (4,208 m; 13,806 ft) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif, on the boundary between Haute-Savoie in France and Aosta Valley in Italy.
The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain (''Pointe Walker'') was by Hor ...
, and one year later he climbed the
north face of the Eiger. After a visit to the
Saxon Switzerland
Saxon Switzerland (german: Sächsische Schweiz) is a hilly climbing area and national park around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany. Together with the Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic it forms the Elbe Sands ...
climbing area in Saxony, Germany in 1973 he recognized the potential of
free climbing
Free climbing is a form of rock climbing in which the climber may use climbing equipment such as ropes and other means of climbing protection, but only to protect against injury during falls and not to assist vertical or horizontal progress. Th ...
. He started to free climb in his home climbing area, the
Frankenjura
Franconian Switzerland (german: Fränkische Schweiz) is an upland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main i ...
. In the routes, he would now try to ascend while free climbing, he would—in between attempts—paint a red 'X' on the rocks near pitons he did not need as holds or steps. Once he could place a red 'X' on all the pitons and hooks in the route, and was thus able to
free climb
Free climbing is a form of rock climbing in which the climber may use climbing equipment such as ropes and other means of climbing protection, but only to protect against injury during falls and not to assist vertical or horizontal progress. Th ...
the entire route, he would paint a red dot at the base of the route. From this comes the English term "
redpoint
Redpoint ( gd, An Rubha Dearg) is a small settlement in the north west of Highland, Scotland. It takes its name from Red Point, a low promontory to the south, which marks a turn in the coastline from facing west to south east as it becomes Loc ...
", which is derived from the German ''Rotpunkt'', meaning "redpoint". In many ways, this was the origin of the free climbing movement that led to the development of
sport climbing
Sport climbing (or Bolted climbing) is a form of rock climbing that relies on permanent anchors (or bolts), permanently fixed into the rock for climber protection, in which a rope that is attached to the climber is clipped into the anchors to ...
some years later.
Death
Albert was severely injured in a climbing accident on September 26, 2010. He fell while taking pictures at
via ferrata
A via ferrata (Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and languages except n ...
''Höhenglücksteig'' (near
Hirschbach, Bavaria) and died two days later while hospitalised in
Erlangen
Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...
.
Bibliography
*
*
References
External links
*
Portrait of Kurt Albert bergleben.deGedenkfeier an der "Glatten Wand" Abschied von Kurt AlbertKurt Albert is dead. Goodbye to a climbing legend
1954 births
2010 deaths
German rock climbers
Mountaineering deaths
Sportspeople from Nuremberg
{{climbing-bio-stub