Toni Egger

Toni Egger (12 September 1926 - 2 February 1959) was a prominent Austrian rock-climber and mountaineer, "one of the best climbers of his time",

In 1939, after Mussolini and Hitler had signed the 1938 South Tyrolean resettlement agreement, the Egger family moved to the Austrian East Tyrol where they settled in the village of Nußdorf-Debant just outside Lienz. It wasn't until 1950 that his interest took him further afield; in that year he made his way to the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, travelling the 70 km from his home town on foot, following smugglers routes through the forests, because he didn't have a passport.

Egger was soon making ascents of other routes in the eastern Dolomites which at the time were considered amongst the most difficult of the day. In 1954 he and Mayr Gottfried made an ascent of the north face of Cima Ovest followed by the north face of Cima Grande in a total time of only 11 hours, He capped this in 1956 by his solo ascent of the Cima Grande north face in only 4 hours. Egger climbed the route in 75 minutes. the south face of the Aiguille du Midi, Egger was unaware that Rebuffat had made the first ascent just two days earlier. a position he held from 1954 to 1957.

Further afield In 1956 he participated in an expedition to the Kaçkar Mountains in north-east Turkey led by Hermann Köllensperger (who had been a member of the 1953 Nanga Parbat expedition when Hermann Buhl made the first ascent of that mountain). The group also included Siegfried Jungmair, Erich Krenmayr and , their primary objective was the first ascent of Jirishanca , the last unclimbed 6000m peak in the Cordillera Huayhuash. Egger and Jungmair reached the snow ridge leading to the summit of Jirishanca in late June but snow conditions were so bad that they were unable to continue to the top. After that failure the team decided to attempt other peaks in the area: Egger and Jungmair made the first ascent of El Toro via a ramp line on the east face of the mountain, while Krenmayr and Raditschnig attempted Nevado Carnicero but they only reached a high point of . In the hope that snow conditions might have improved the team then decided to make a second attempt on Jirishanca. Starting on 10 July Egger and Jungmair climbed by the east buttress and reached the summit on 12 July 1957, in one continuous push. Riccardo Cassin described their successful ascent as "one of the most outstanding achievements of valour, courage and endurance". Fifty years after the ascent it was written that their climb "was one of the greatest ever exploits in world mountaineering and remains unequalled in the history of Andean climbing. Even today their climb is still graded ED". It was more than 25 years before a second party successfully climbed Jirishanca from the east.

The group moved on to make a number of first ascents in the Cordillera Raura. It wasn't long before doubts about Maestri’s account arose. There appeared to be many inconsistencies and unanswered questions. As other climbers visited Cerro Torre, they found clear evidence of Maestri and Egger's progress on the lower sections of the route but nothing at or above the north col, and many questioned whether the pair actually reached the summit.

Aftermath

In early 1961 Fava returned to Cerro Torre. He hoped to recover Egger’s body. Although he found nothing, he placed a commemorative plaque near the base of the mountain's east face. Lionel Terray described Cerro Torre as "the most beautiful and luminous crypt in the world, the one that protects the unforgettable Toni Egger". Further search uncovered a rope, ice-axe, a hammer and more human remains. His remains were buried at the foot of the west wall of Fitz Roy. In early 2003 more of Egger’s remains were found not far from the 1975 location.

Egger was regarded as "one of the best climbers of his time" and "one of the leading alpinists of his generation". A tower, the Eggerturm, on the Seekofel in the Lienz Dolomites today bears Toni Egger's name. The Patagonian mountain Torre Egger , which sits between Cerro Torre and Cerro Standhardt, was named after him. It was Cesare Maestri who, in 1961, first proposed the name Torre Egger.

Notable first ascents in the European Alps the north wall of the in the Gailtal Alps (11 Sept 1950) the north wall of the Kellerturm in the Carnic Alps (1951) the south wall of the in the Gailtal Alps (30 Aug 1953) the north wall of the Laserzwand in the Gailtal Alps (1954) the south wall of the Cima Piccola in the Sexten Dolomites (14 July 1955) the north wall of the Hochstadel in the Gailtal Alps with Peter Pfauder (6 January 1956) the south-west pillar of the in the Marmolada Dolomites with Cesare Giudici (18 August 1956) the south-east pillar of the Patteriol in the Verwall Alps (1958) south-west ridge of the , in the Tofane district of the Ampezzo Dolomites (1958)