Michael Düchs

The Kashmir mountains were barred to foreign alpinists for several years. The ban was lifted early in 2010 and Stephan Siegrist, Denis Burdet, and David Lama made the first expedition into the region the following year to climb Cerro Kishtwar alpine style. They reached the summit via the north-west side. Siegrist had spotted a new line on the face, however, and returned in 2017 with Huber and Zanker, but the difficulties were harder than expected and they encountered difficult technical climbing.

Hans Dülfer - his name is familiar to every climber. He climbed in the Wilder Kaiser and in the Dolomites, which became landmarks of alpinism. He was the first to climb through notorious walls such as the Fleischbank East Wall and the Totenkirchl West Wall. Exactly 100 years ago, Dülfer died at the age of 23 as a soldier in the First World War. However, the passion he felt for climbing still lives on today. For example in Roland Hemetzberger, who - just like Dülfer - is looking for new challenges in the Wilder Kaiser: his route 'Delirium' is one of the most difficult climbing routes there. 'Every day I can't go climbing feels like a lost day to me,' says the 24-year-old from Oberaudorf about himself.

The early morning of September 24, 2014, five mountaineers are caught in an avalanche as they ascend Shisha Pangma - two of them are killed. The tragic accident leaves many questions unanswered. Bergauf-Bergab spoke with the survivors. The story was also covered by the German documentary '7 tage im september', by Karsten Scheuren.