Anja Blacha

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Anja Karen Blacha (born 18 June 1990) is a German mountaineer. Blacha holds a number of climbing records: in 2017, she became the youngest German woman to climb Mount Everest and youngest German overall to climb all Seven Summits and in 2019 she became the first German woman to climb K2. [1]

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In 2020, she set a world record as the first woman to ski solo and unsupported from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole. [2] This journey also makes her the youngest person ever to reach the South Pole solo and unsupported from a coastal starting point. [3]

She has a track record of 100% first time success, and, being a full-time business professional, has been almost entirely self-funded on her expeditions.

Personal life

Blacha grew up in Bielefeld, Germany and lived and worked in London, UK before moving to Zurich, Switzerland in 2016. She has been working in the telecommunications industry and in project management. [4] She holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from University of Mannheim with studies at UC Berkeley and Korea University, as well as a Master's degree in Philosophy from Birkbeck, University of London. [5]

She has been a long-time athlete in fencing. In 2012, she was awarded Sportswoman of the year by the University of London.

In 2017, Zeit Campus named her one of "18 for 18", a feature of 18 people under age 30 who are having an impact in Germany. [6]

Expeditions

Mountaineering expeditions

Seven Summits

Anja Blacha first started mountaineering in 2015 when she climbed Aconcagua. She then continued to climb all Seven Summits, scaling the highest mountain on each continent with 100% first-time success in just under three years. [7] At age 26, she became the youngest German woman to summit Mount Everest which she climbed via the North route from Tibet. [8] Later that year, at age 27, she became the youngest German to complete all Seven Summits.

NoYearPeakElevationContinent
12015 Aconcagua 6,962 mSouth America
22015 Kilimanjaro 5,895 mAfrica
32016 Denali 6,194 mNorth America
42016 Mount Elbrus 5,642 mEurope
52016 Carstensz Pyramid 4,884 mAustralia
62017 Mount Everest 8,848 mAsia
72017 Mount Vinson 4,892 mAntarctica

K2 expedition

In summer 2019, she embarked on a double expedition in Pakistan to climb Broad Peak and K2 in the same season. As part of the acclimatisation for K2, she first summited Broad Peak, the world's 12th highest mountain at 8,047 m, on July 4. Thereafter, she summited K2, the world's 2nd highest mountain at 8,611 m, on July 25, ascending via the Abruzzi Spur, descending via the Cesen route. She reached both summits without the use of supplemental oxygen. [9] [10] [1]

She is the first German woman to have summited K2 and the 8th German overall. [11]

Other 8,000er peaks

In 2021, she climbed Mount Everest a second time, now from the South Side using bottled oxygen above 8,400 m. [12]

In 2023, she climbed Nanga Parbat, [13] Gasherbrum I [14] and Gasherbrum II [15] without bottled oxygen. [16] She thus has scaled all of the five Pakistani 8,000 m peaks without bottled oxygen.

NoYearPeakElevationOxygen
12017, 2021 Mount Everest 8,848 m
22019 Broad Peak 8,051 mNo O2
32019 K2 8,611 mNo O2
42023 Nanga Parbat 8,125 mNo O2
52023 Gasherbrum II 8,034 mNo O2
62023 Gasherbrum I 8,080 mNo O2
72024 Kangchenjunga 8,586 mNo O2

Polar expeditions

Southern Solitaire

Southern Solitaire route Route Sudpolexpedition Anja Blacha.jpg
Southern Solitaire route

On 9 January 2020, she reached the South Pole after having skied for 57 days, 18 hours, and 50 minutes from the Northern end of Berkner Island to the South Pole. [17] She has started further North on Berkner Island than any other expedition before her, and set the record for the longest solo unsupported polar expedition by any woman at that time. [18] [2] Besides being the first woman to achieve this, she is also still the youngest person to ski solo unsupported to the South Pole from a coastal starting point. [19] [3]

Only five people in history have accomplished a journey from Berkner Island to the South Pole solo, unsupported, and unassisted before her. Amongst these are polar explorers Børge Ousland, Ben Saunders, and Henry Worsley who died shortly after being evacuated on a later part of his expedition. [20]

INTERSPORT has supported this expedition, and together they launched the campaign “Not bad for a girl” to inspire and encourage people to look beyond stereotypes. [18]

Other polar expeditions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K2</span> 2nd-highest mountain on Earth

K2, at 8,611 metres (28,251 ft) above sea level, is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest at 8,849 metres (29,032 ft). It lies in the Karakoram range, partially in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and partially in the China-administered Trans-Karakoram Tract in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reinhold Messner</span> Italian mountaineer, adventurer and explorer (born 1944)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eight-thousander</span> Mountain peaks of over 8,000 m

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gasherbrum II</span> Eight-thousander and 13th-highest mountain on Earth, located in Pakistan and China

Gasherbrum II ; surveyed as K4, is the 13th highest mountain in the world at 8,035 metres (26,362 ft) above sea level. It is the third-highest peak of the Gasherbrum massif, and is located in the Karakoram, on the border between Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan and Xinjiang, China. The mountain was first climbed on July 7, 1956, by an Austrian expedition which included Fritz Moravec, Josef Larch, and Hans Willenpart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Czerwińska</span> Polish mountaineer (1949–2023)

Anna Czerwińska was a Polish climber. She is known for being the then-oldest woman to summit Mount Everest, doing so at the age of 50. She also published several books about mountaineering.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meherban Karim</span> Pakistani mountaineer

Meherban Karim was a Pakistani mountaineer. He lost his life, along with 10 other mountaineers, in the 2008 K2 disaster, following an avalanche in what was to be one of the deadliest accidents in the history of K2 mountaineering. He summited several eight-thousanders: K2, Nanga Parbat, and Gasherbrum II. In the mountaineering community, he was known as "Karim The Dream" and "Karim Meherban".

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Sirbaz Khan is a Pakistani mountaineer. He is the first Pakistani to summit 13 of the eight-thousanders, which comprise the world's 14 highest peaks.

References

  1. 1 2 "K2 summiteer Anja Blacha: "More flexible on the mountain without breathing mask"". Adventure Mountain. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  2. 1 2 Guinness World Records. "First solo unsupported South Pole ski expedition from an outer coastline (female)" . Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  3. 1 2 Philips, Eric. "Youngest and oldest completed South Pole journeys" . Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  4. Blacha, Anja. "LinkedIn profile" . Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  5. Reichenbach, Jens. "Bielefelder Mount-Everest-Bezwingerin berichtet von großen Gefühlen und Toten am Berg". Bielefeld Mitte (in German). Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  6. Zeit Campus, issue 1/18, 05.12.2017
  7. "Junge Gipfelstürmerin: "Ein Gefühl von Freiheit" | Forum - Das Wochenmagazin". magazin-forum.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  8. "Anja Blacha jüngste Deutsche auf dem Mount Everest". ALPIN.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  9. "K2 Summit Tally Spikes From Zero to 24". Explorersweb. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  10. "A Remarkable K2 Season Wraps Up". Explorersweb. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  11. Nestler, Stefan (2019-07-25). "More summit successes on K2: With and without bottled oxygen". Adventure Mountain. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  12. Nestler, Stefan (2021-05-31). "Further summit successes on Mount Everest - Anja Blacha on top". Adventure Mountain. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  13. Benavides, Angela (2023-07-03). "More Nanga Parbat Summits » Explorersweb". Explorersweb. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  14. "SST Gasherbrum I Summer Expedition 2023 Summit Update". Seven Summit Treks. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  15. "SST Gasherbrum II Summer Expedition 2023 Summit Update". Seven Summit Treks. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  16. "Climbers". www.8000ers.com. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  17. "Anja Blacha after South Pole expedition: "Other challenges than on 8000ers"". Adventure Mountain. 2020-01-30. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  18. 1 2 "Anja Blacha nach Expedition zum Südpol: "Männerdomänen sind für Frauen erreichbar"". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). 2020-02-10. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  19. Stephens, Rebecca. "How three British women overcame ferocious storms and 'polar thigh' to conquer Antarctica on skis". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  20. Weaver, Matthew; agencies (2016-01-25). "Explorer Henry Worsley dies attempting unaided Antarctic crossing". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  21. Routen, Ash (2019-10-16). "Interview: Anja Blacha on Skiing to the South Pole » Explorersweb". Explorersweb. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  22. Blacha, Anja. "Instagram" . Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  23. Anderson, Sam (2023-04-26). "Two Groups Complete 400Km Cambridge Bay-Gjoa Haven Arctic Ski » Explorersweb". Explorersweb. Retrieved 2023-10-23.