Günter Oskar Dyhrenfurth (12 November 1886 – 14 April 1975) was a German-born,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

, geologist and

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

n explorer. He won a gold medal in alpinism at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

, the third and final time the award was offered.

Biography

He led the International Himalaya Expedition (IHE) 1930 to

Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...

, and another one, IHE 1934, to the Baltoro region in the

Karakoram The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...

s, especially to explore the

Gasherbrum Gasherbrum () is a remote group of mountain, peaks situated at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram mountain range. The peaks are located within the border region of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. T ...

-Group. This expedition made the first ascent of

Sia Kangri Sia Kangri (7,422 m, 24,350 ft) is a mountain in the Baltoro Muztagh in the Karakoram. Its summit lies on the border of Pakistan and China. About a kilometer southeast of the Sia Kangri summit is the tri point where territories controlled ...

and some of its sub-peaks and provided detailed information about the accessibility of the 8000ers

Gasherbrum I Gasherbrum I, originally surveyed as K5, and also known as Hidden Peak, is the 11th highest mountain in the world at above sea level. It is located between Shigar District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan and Tashkurgan in the Xi ...

and II. The first ascent of Gasherbrum I in 1958 was accomplished via the route proposed by Dyhrenfurth following the so-called IHE-spur and the SE-ridge. Dyrenfurth was a very influential alpinist, expedition leader and chronicler of mountaineering. Jon Krakauer (1997). '' Into Thin Air''. Villard Books. p. 31. . His son Norman G. Dyhrenfurth was also a mountaineer and became an important expedition leader and film maker.

Selected bibliography

* * * * *

References

External links

* Anders Bolinder (1976)
''In Memoriam: Günter Oskar Dyhrenfurth''
'' The Alpine Journal'' 1976. p. 268. * Eberhard Jurgalski (2008)
''A BRIEF HISTORY OF HIGH ASIAN CHRONICLES''
1886 births 1975 deaths Swiss mountain climbers German mountain climbers Historians of mountaineering Sportspeople from Wrocław People from the Province of Silesia Art competitors at the 1936 Summer Olympics {{climbingbio-stub