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2000
Anderl Heckmair (Germany)
Anderl Heckmair was born in Munich, Bavaria on October 12, 1906. He
lived in an orphanage from 1916-1920 in Munich after his father died and his mother was
called to war work (World War 1). After an apprenticeship as a gardener, Heckmair attended
agricultural college and graduated as a horticultural technical gardener.
 Heckmair started extreme mountaineering in the late 1920s
and early 1930s in the mountains of the "Wilde Kaiser", Wetterstein, Karwendel,
Dolomites and the West Alps. He started ice climbing and made the first ascent of the
Grand Charmoz-Northface in 1931. In 1932, he rode his bicycle from Munich to Barcelona,
Spain, then rode further by train for an expedition to Maroc, North Africa. In 1933, he
became a mountain guide and ski guide. In the early 1930s, Heckmair made bold ascents of
Tre Cima di Lavaredo, the Cima Grande Northface, (first alpine ascent in five hours
without a bivouac), Civetta Northwest face, Sans Maor East face, amongst others. In 1938, Heckmair led team members Ludwig Voerg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek on the first
ascent of the Eiger Northface. He then entered military service in 1939 and from 1943-1945
served as an instructor for training courses for military mountain guides in Pulpmes,
Austria. In 1951, Heckmair accomplished a personal alpine achievement when, under dramatic
conditions, he climbed the Pilier Walker on the Grandes Jorasses, Mt. Blanc Group.
After World War II, Heckmair served as an instructor for
German mountain guides and ski guides by order of the German Alpine Club. From 1950, he
was leader of the ski school at Oberstdorf. He later became Honorary Chairperson for the
foundation of the union of German mountain guides and ski guides. Heckmair guided
botanical-geological trips in the mountains around Oberstdorf from
1969-1997. In 1966, Heckmair became an honorary member of the International Union of
Mountain Guides and in 1996 an honorary citizen of Oberstdorf. He participated in such
expeditions as: the 1954 German-Austrian team to the Karakoram, Pakistan, 1960 in Africa
(Ruewnzori and Hoggar) in Kenya through Algiers, 1963 in South America (Cordillera Blanca,
Peru) and in 1965 to Mt. Waddington, the Rocky Mountains and Popocaten petl, Orizaba in
Mexico. He spent time in 1960, 1961 and 1976 in Nepal (Lamjun and Helambu) as a trekking
leader.
Heckmair has written seven books and also many articles for
the Alpine Journal.
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