Name: Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner
D.O.B: 13.12.1970
Place of residence: Black Forrest (Germany)
Profession: Professional mountaineer

Her ascent of Kangchenjunga in the spring of 2006 was her ninth of the fourteen 8,000m peaks, all
without the use of oxygen!
Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is one of the most outstanding mountaineers of our age.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner’s interest in climbing mountains started from a young age. Her first real
steps into the world of mountains were thanks to the leader of her local youth group in her home
town of Spital am Pyhrn in Upper Austria, Dr. Erich Tischler, the area minister. After Sunday mass, he
took Gerlinde on numerous outings exploring the mountains of the region. At the age of thirteen,
during her schooling at the Ski Secondary School in Windischgarsten, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner started
climbing on the local Sturzhahnae. This turned out to be the start of her love affair with climbing and
paved the way to her career in alpinism. During the following years, she seldom missed an
opportunity to go climbing. Alongside her training as a nurse in Upper Austria and Vienna, ski
touring, ice climbing and rock climbing became her main focus.

Her greatest dream – to climb an 8,000m peak – came true at the age of 23 when she climbed the
secondary summit of Broad Peak in Pakistan at 8,027m. Since then, she has not been able to shake
off thoughts of the highest and greatest peaks. In the years that followed, she ploughed all her
earnings from her nurse’s salary into trekking and climbing expeditions in the Himalayas. After
climbing Nanga Parbat, her fifth 8,000m summit in 2003, she decided to become a professional
mountaineer. Today, she has a total of nine out of the fourteen 8,000m peaks under her belt as well
as two secondary summits over 8,000m.

Her passion does not simply come from climbing the highest peaks in the Himalaya range. She is
also moved and delighted by the people in the area and their religion.