Toni Dürnberger

Austrian mountaineer and expedition leader

Toni Dürnberger

Born	(1932-11-11)11 November 1932 Sankt Martin bei Lofer, Austria
Died	17 August 1992(1992-08-17) (aged 59) Khan Tengri, Tian Shan

Toni Dürnberger (11 September 1932 – 17 August 1992)^[1] was an Austrian mountaineer and expedition leader.

Biography

From April to July 1962, Dürnberger led the Austro-German Expedition to Greenland (Österreichische Deutsche Grönland Expedition 1962) that climbed a number of unscaled peaks in the Sermilik sector from April to July 1962. The expedition climbed a total of 37 peaks in the area,^[2] including some near the Southern Sermilik fjord.^[3]

In 1966 Dürnberger led a second expedition that climbed for the first time remote Mount Paatusoq, considered the highest unclimbed peak in southern Greenland. Battling very difficult conditions, some of the team members fell into a crevasse and one of them was seriously injured.^[4]

Together with Austrian expedition member Ernst Herzinger and German members Stefan Rausch and Alois Häusl, Toni Dürnberger published articles of geographical interest on the little-known areas of Greenland he visited.^[5]

Toni Dürnberger died in a fall, together with his wife Elfi, while descending Khan Tengri after having successfully climbed the 7,010m high peak located in the Kyrgyzstan–Kazakhstan–China border on 17 August 1992.^[6]

Publications

Dürnberger T. et al. Erlebnisbericht über die Österreichisch-Deutsche Grönlandexpedition 1962. Jahrbuch des Österreichischen Alpenvereins 1963. Vol 88.