Spilled mountaineers in Canada: Three of the best

When David Lama started to speak, you had to smile involuntarily: The strong Tyrolean dialect did not seem to fit the 28-year-old, as polyglot as he was - and he immediately made him sympathetic. When David Lama started climbing, it was over with a smile. Then there were those who had no idea of ​​degrees of difficulty or rock: Lama moved lightly, dynamically, the grips and kicks sat as if every route was a rehearsed choreography, he danced up the wall. Now his family had to say goodbye to him.

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Lama, whose father comes from Nepal and his mother from Innsbruck, was considered an exceptional talent. Not only in sport climbing, but also in alpinism, he achieved extraordinary success. Since Wednesday, he and two other professional mountaineers in Banff National Park in Canada have been missing. Lama, Hansjörg Auer and Jess Roskelley were buried by an avalanche, the hopes that one of them could have survived, probably have not met.

The family of David Lama shows on his website a black and white photo of the climber. In addition it says: "David lived for the mountains and his passion for climbing and mountaineering shaped and accompanied us as a family, always following his path and living his dream, and accepting what has happened as part of it."

In the last photo, posted by the three climbers on Instagram, everything looks like a perfect day in the mountains: knee-deep, they sink in the freshly prepared snow, the skis on their backs, it's so clear that you can reach the valley can look. It was one of those days when mountaineers dare the difficult routes, because the conditions could hardly be better.

Check out this post on Instagram

When you're living in a place you often end up doing the same thing over and over again. Sometimes it takes a fresh view to break you out of the routine. In this case it was @jimwmorrison and @mikeyarno spotting a line I had almost forgotten about. We got out the next day to hit it and it turned out to be one of the better days of this winter. @thenorthface Photo by @christianpondella

A post shared by David Lama (@davidlama_official) on Apr 17, 2019 at 8:50 PDT

"David was not one who consciously took an unnecessary risk," says Peter Ortner. The Tyrolean climber has known Lama since 2009, and together they were the first to climb the difficult "compressor route" at Cerro Torre in Argentina. "He knew exactly what he can, was always well prepared," says Ortner. "The mountains were his life."

When Lama and Ortner reached the summit of the 3128 meter high Cerro Torre in January 2012, he grinned mischievously, as he often grinned mischievously when he made a route. He was not one to boast about his accomplishments, despite the fact that he has repeatedly pushed up the standard in climbing sports.

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Cerro Torre (3128 meters) in Patagonia

At the age of five, he joined a climbing group cared for by mountaineering legend Peter Habeler. "He noticed me immediately," says Habeler, who immediately informed the little David's parents about his extraordinary talent. "At the age of five he already had such a pronounced sense of balance and no fear at all."

The parents promoted him, he got a coach. At the age of seven Lama participated for the first time in a climbing competition, at the age of nine he won the Youth Cup of the Austrian Alpine Club. A year later, he climbed as a youngest climber a route in difficulty 8a. It followed victories in the European Cup and at the World Championships.

Then came the break: After his world title in 2008 Lama had enough of competitive sports. He discovered alpinism for himself, preferring to be out in the mountains rather than indoors in the hall. "Right climbing is for me on the rocks," said Lama 2016 in an interview with the Austrian newspaper "Die Presse".

He was now increasingly on the large rock walls with crampons and ice ax on the way. Nevertheless, or maybe just because of his previous experience in competitive sports, he did not pursue the motto "higher, farther, faster". "The factor of adventure, the first realization of an idea - that is for me in the foreground, not some record, any comparison value," he said.

Video: David Lama climbs in the Baatara Gorge in Lebanon

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"One of the best and not overbearing"

He searched his adventure again and again in remote and rough areas: In addition to his success in Patagonia, he negotiated some of the most difficult routes in the Alps, in Alaska, in the Karakorum and in the Himalayas. In October 2018 he succeeded in the first ascent of the 6895 -meter-high Lunag Ri in Nepal.

"I watched his career with joy," says Habeler. "He has become one of the best and at the same time not overbearing." He had humor and he was one who could turn back, two important features in mountain sports.

"It always depends on whether I believe that the target facing the risk is achievable," Lama himself said about his risk appetite. "As a mountaineer, I actually minimize it as much as I can, but I'm still willing to take some risks when it's in order."

Lama was ambitious. He perfected his skills so much that he could almost rule it out technically. "For me, success does not primarily mean reaching the summit, but fulfilling my own expectations," it said on its website.

"When I climbed with David, I always knew that he would not fly down," says Habeler, who two years ago climbed the Eiger North Face with Lama. "And he did not fly down now."

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Peter Habeler (l.) And David Lama in the "Death Bivouac" in the Eiger North Face (2017)

Lama was a reliable climbing partner, 35-year-old Auer knew that they had been on expeditions many times. Auer also climbed since he was a child. He was best known for his free-solo climbs. His tour of the "Path through the Fish" (difficulty 7b +) on the Marmolada in the Dolomites was one of the turning points in free solo climbing in 2007. After that, the Austrians are repeatedly on foot without technical securing means of so-called Big Walls (big walls) and some difficult routes on seven-thousander.

Youngest man on Everest

American Jess Roskelley is also one of the world's most experienced alpinists. In 2003, at the age of 20, he became the youngest person in the world to join Mount Everest with his father John. The 36-year-old had promised his father to report on Tuesday. Together with Lama and Auer he wanted to make the difficult route M16 on the east wall of Howse Peak in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. He did not call.

Three mountaineers who have been traveling in the mountains since childhood and were considered exceptional talents. Three who knew conditions in the mountains as well as no one else and had the technical skills they could trust. But there was a residual risk. Always.

David Lama and Hansjörg Auer have shaped the international climbing and alpine scene in recent years with a multitude of successes. My thoughts are with the families and friends of the two Tyroleans. https://t.co/SjORei1uDm

"There are situations that you simply can not assess," says Austrian avalanche expert Peter Höller. "Snow is one of them - an avalanche does not know you're a pro." When the three climbers were in the best conditions on Howse Peak in Canada, a snowboard had to be solved. "Shortly before you often hear 'whopping' noises," says Höller. "That's a clear indication that you have to be careful." If you really get into an avalanche, you need good luck.

"Mostly you can not do anything anymore, the body is pulled into the depth and is then concreted by the compact snow," says Höller. "The first 20 minutes are still a good chance to survive." After that, the probability drops dramatically, after 35 minutes, it is only 30 percent. The three have been missing for more than 48 hours.

The three professionals had certainly interpreted the "wumm" sounds under their feet correctly - only there it was already too late.