EverestHistory.com: Reinhard Karl

On May 10, 1978 Reinhard Karl was the first German to stand atop the worlds tallest mountain. It is a bit ironic that he set out for Everest to chronicle a record not to perform one himself.

Reinhold Messner was about to attempt his famous oxygenless ascent of Everest and a German magazine wanted someone along to take photos of the historic event. Being both a climber and a photographer Reinhard Karl was quick to accept the job. After Messner and his climbing partner Peter Habeler failed their attempt at the summit (they would later summit without oxygen successfully) Karl and expedition physician Dr. Oswald Oelz made for the summit (with oxygen) following a week after expedition leader Wolfgang Nairz and his group summited.

Karl grew up in the German town of Heidelberg, and though he was apprenticed as a mechanic his heart belonged to the mountains. He joined the local chapter of the German Alps Association in his teens and at 17 went on his first mountain tour. He would go on to publish both writing and photographs of his mountaineering experiences.

Reinhard Karl died in an avalanche while climbing Cho Oyu an 8,201-meter peak on the border of Tibet and Nepal on May 19, 1982. He was 35 years old.

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