Hans Kammerlander

Who is Hans Kammerlander?

Hans Kammerlander is an Italian mountaineer. He has climbed 13 of the 14 8000m peaks. In 1984, together with Reinhold Messner he was the first climber to traverse two 8000m peaks before descending to base camp.

He accompanied Messner, the first man to climb all fourteen 8000m peaks, on successful climbs of Cho Oyu, Gasherbrum I and II, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Makalu, and Lhotse, and is a UIAGM mountain guide. Chris Bonington described Messner's relationship with Kammerlander as the most "amicable" of Messner's climbing partnerships.

In 1990 he made the first ski descent of Nanga Parbat. In 1996 he failed in an attempt to be the first to ski down Mount Everest, after removing his skis and climbing down from 300 metres below the summit, skiing down from 7700m, although he set a then speed record during that attempt of 17 hours to climb from base camp to the summit of Everest via the North Col. Kammerlander also abandoned an attempt to be the first to ski from the summit of K2 when he saw a Korean climber fall to his death.