Markus Kronthaler

Who was Markus Kronthaler?

Markus Kronthaler was an Austrian gendarme and mountaineer.

Kronthaler was born in Kufstein, Tyrol. He was an officer in the alpine section of Austria's Gendarmerie, which he left in 2003 to become a professional climber. Surviving a free fall of 150 meters into snow in January 2006, Kronthaler led a new expedition to Chogolisa and Broad Peak, Pakistan, in May 2006. He died of exhaustion on Broad Peak after reaching the summit on July 8. His body was left on the mountain.

In the summer of 2007, an Austrian mountaineering team climbed Broad Peak to retrieve Kronthaler's corpse, which was brought to Austria and cremated. This was the highest ever body recovery from a mountain. His urn was buried in Kufstein.