Switzerland’s legendary climber Erhard Loretan dies in a climbing accident in Swiss Alps
There have been only a few legendary mountaineers in the world who were able to challenge the brute force of the treacherous peaks with shear courage and by dint of their relentless efforts as compared to the modern day climbers, who have all the technology
in the world at their disposal.
Swiss climber and mountaineer Erhard Loretan, was one such untamed spirit who constantly challenged the odds of climbing in his 52 years of life. Loretan died on Thursday, April 29th in a climbing accident at Grünhorn, Switzerland.
“The party formed by mountain guide Erhard Loretan and a client fell while scaling a ridge. Erhard Loretan died on the spot,” police in the Swiss canton of Valais said in a statement.
Loretan was along with his client at a height of 3,800 metre (12,467 feet) at the Grünhorn, a peak in the Bernese Alps, when they suffered a climbing fall of 200 feet. Loretan died on spot while his client was shuttled to the hospital with serious injuries.
Loretan was among the elite club of the very few mountaineers who have conquered all 14 eight-thousanders and was only the third one in the world to do that after the infamous Italian Reinhold Messner and Polish Jerry Kukuczka.
Born in Bulle in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, he began his climbing career at the age of 11 and did his first eight-thousander in 1982 with the deadly Nanga Parbat. By the year 1995, he had done all the eight-thousanders with Kanchenjunga as the
last one.
Loretan was also among the pioneers in the Alpine Style of mountaineering which apart from other requirements also includes doing the summit without the use of supplemental oxygen. In 1986, Loretan climbed the Mount Everest in record time of 40 hours, without
using supplemental oxygen support.
“We didn’t intend to climb Everest in two days, we just set off and we were fortunate to do it in two days,” Loretan had stated after his revolutionary climb of the Everest. “I think that we were young, in love with climbing. When you’re in love you’ll do
anything, it wasn’t sacrifice, it was all normal. We didn’t think we were doing incredible things, it just all seemed normal.”
The same year, he climbed no less than 38 Swiss peaks in just 19 days. Loretan used to state that he had an extreme fear of death which kept him crucially alert while climbing.
Loretan also had to face the terrible death of his seven-month-old son by his own hands. Loretan tried to hush the child by shaking him, which accidentally broke the child’s neck. Loretan pleaded guilty for the act and was sentenced to four months prison
for the crime. The incident grabbed the spot light and helped raise awareness about the delicate neck muscles in children.
Loretan was among the giants who defeated the tallest and mightiest of peaks in the world without being afraid of the consequences. Though Loretan is no more, he along with his incredible story, will always be counted as the living legends in the annals
of history.
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