Hansruedi von Gunten (born 12 December 1928 in Bern; died 7 December 2021 [1] ) was a Swiss chemist and mountaineer. Together with Dolf Reist he succeeded on May 24, 1956, the third ascent of Mount Everest. [2]
Hansruedi von Gunten (born 12 December 1928 in Bern; died 7 December 2021 [1] ) was a Swiss chemist and mountaineer. Together with Dolf Reist he succeeded on May 24, 1956, the third ascent of Mount Everest. [2]
Gunten graduated in Bern, the Municipal Gymnasium (Matura 1948), studied at the University of Bern chemistry (major), physics and geology (minor subjects), doctored from 1954 to 1956 at the Physical Institute at FG Houtermans on age determinations of Congolese minerals and radioactive bleach (Cotunnites) from Mount Vesuvius. He refused a call to the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. From 1970 until his retirement in 1993, he was a full professor of radiochemistry. He supervised numerous diploma and doctoral students.
Gunten spent two sabbaticals at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, USA (1957 & 1966) and one each at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley, California USA (1980) and in Sydney, Australia (1990).
These activities have resulted in more than 150 publications in renowned journals.
From Gunten has numerous peaks in the Alps on z. T. difficult routes (including the north wall of the Aiguille du plan) defeated. He participated in a geological research expedition in East Greenland in 1953 (first ascent of the Shackletons-Bjerg, together with John Haller and Wolfgang Diehl on 2 August). He climbed in Mexico, Ecuador, New Zealand and Japan volcanoes.
In 1956 von Gunten became a member of the Swiss Mount Everest-Lhotse expedition, where he was responsible for the food and catering. On April 6, 1956 he succeeded in the Khumbu area together with the Sherpas Lobsang and Gyalsen the first ascent of today often visited Island Peak. Von Gunten reached the summit of Mount Everest together with the photographer Dölf Reist as the second team of this expedition, one day after the ascent by Jürg Marmet and Ernst Schmied. [3] He spent two hours on the summit, including one hour without extra oxygen. He is the only surviving participant in this expedition. His summit day on Mount Everest is the furthest among all climbers still alive (as of Spring 2016)
He was a member of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC and an honorary member of the Academic Alpine Club Bern AACB.
Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation of 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft) was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities.
Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8,516 metres (27,940 ft), after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. The main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Khumbu region of Nepal.
Imja Tse, better known as Island Peak, is a mountain in Sagarmatha National Park of the Himalayas of eastern Nepal. The peak was named Island Peak in 1953 by members of the British Mount Everest expedition because it appears as an island in a sea of ice when viewed from Dingboche. The peak was later renamed in 1983 to Imja Tse but Island Peak remains the popular choice. The peak is actually an extension of the ridge coming down off the south end of Lhotse Shar.
Karl Blodig was an Austrian mountaineer, optician, and writer. Blodig was the first to successfully climb all Alpine peaks of over 4000 meters, completing his final summit around 1911. He wrote about these climbs in his book Die Viertausender der Alpen, first published in 1923.
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at 8,849 metres (29,031.7 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the Himalayan range of Solukhumbu district, Nepal.
Ernst Reiss was a Swiss mountaineer, who together with Fritz Luchsinger was the first to climb the fourth highest mountain on earth in 1956.
Harish Chandra Singh Rawat was a mountaineer who climbed the Mt. Everest in 1965. He was one of the 9 summiters of the first successful Indian Everest Expeditions that climbed Mount Everest in May 1965 led by Captain M S Kohli. He is the seventh Indian man and twenty second man in world that climbed Mount Everest. On May 24, 1965 Vohra and Ang Kami Sherpa together reached the top of Mount Everest On May 29, 12 years to the day from the first ascent of Mount Everest the fourth and last summit team with Major H. P. S. Ahluwalia and Phu Dorjee Sherpa, Rawat reached on the summit. This was the first time three climbers stood on the summit together.
Greg Mortimer is an Australian mountaineer. Mortimer is notable as one of the first two Australians to successfully climb Mount Everest, on 3 October 1984. Their ascent, without supplemental oxygen, was the first via the North Face and Norton Couloir. It is one of the climbing routes that has not been repeated often.
Jürg Marmet was a Swiss mountaineer. Marmet was part of the first two-man Swiss team which climbed Mount Everest in 1956.. Marmet and his climbing partner, Ernst Schmied, became the third and fourth people to reach Mount Everest's summit on 23 May 1956. He was also one of the first Swiss citizens to climb to the top of Mount Everest. Marmet and Schmied narrowly beat the next Swiss team to the top: The next day, the next two-man Swiss expedition of Hansruedi von Gunten and Dölf Reist reached the top of the mountain on 24 May 1956. Marmet and Schmied were also the first Swiss to ascend Lhotse in 1956.
Phu Dorjee was a Sherpa and the first Indian to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen. He did so on May 5, 1984 on a solo ascent from the South East Ridge. Dorjee died in 1987 on the Kanchanjunga Expedition of the Assam Rifles.
The first attempts to summit Mount Everest by Indians were in 1960. The first Indians to reach the summit were a group led by Captain M.S. Kohli in 1965. 422 Indians made a total of 465 attempts between 1965 and 2018. These include 43 repeat attempts by 29 summiteers. There have been 81 attempts by 74 women and 7 repeat attempts by 4 female summiteers from India. Kasturi Savekar from Kolhapur, India climbed Mount Everest on 14 May 2022.
Ernst Schmied was a Swiss Mountaineer. He is best known for achieving the second successful summit of Mount Everest, on 23 May 1956, as part of the 1956 Swiss Expedition to Everest and Lhotse.
Dölf Reist (1921-2000) was a Swiss mountaineer, best known for the third successful summit of Mount Everest on 23 May 1956, as part of the 1956 Swiss Expedition to Everest and Lhotse.
Unnikannan is the first Keralite to successfully climb Mount Everest twice. He is a native of Azhuthan Poyil Veetil from Peringome, a village near to Payyannur in Kannur district of Kerala State, India
Suresh Kumar is an Indian mountaineer. He was a member of two Indian Expeditions that conquered Mount Everest in 1992 and 1996. He is a native of Pattoli market Muthukulam, in Alappuzha district of Kerala State, India
Hans Kaufmann was a Swiss mountain guide who served clients in the Alps, the Rocky Mountains, the Dolomites, the Carpathians, and the Andes.
