Peter Habeler

Peter Habeler (born July 22, 1942) is an Austrian mountaineer. He was born in Mayrhofen, Austria. He developed an interest in mountaineering when he was six years old. Among his accomplishments as a mountaineer are his first ascents in the Rockies. He was also the first European to participate in large wall climbing in Yosemite National Park.

He started climbing with Reinhold Messner in 1969. Several mountaineering achievements followed. The most notable event was the first ascent without supplemental oxygen of Mount Everest on May 8, 1978 with Messner, which had previously been considered impossible. A year after his ascent of Everest, he published Lonely Victory ("Der einsame Sieg". Author: Eberhard Fuchs) in 1978. Habeler set further records by descending from the summit to the South Col in just one hour and climbing the north face of the Eiger in ten hours.