Carlos Buhler
Encyclopedia
Carlos Buhler is one of America's leading high altitude mountaineers
. Buhler's specialty is high-standard mountaineering characterized by small teams, no oxygen, minimal gear and equipment, and relatively low amounts of funding; yielding first ascents of difficult routes in challenging conditions, such as the Himalayan
winter season.
Buhler is a graduate of The Putney School
and is a 1978 graduate of Western Washington University
, one of only 66 recipients of the school's highest honor (Distiniguished Alumni Award), and currently resides in Canmore, Alberta
, Canada. He is married and the father of two.
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
. Buhler's specialty is high-standard mountaineering characterized by small teams, no oxygen, minimal gear and equipment, and relatively low amounts of funding; yielding first ascents of difficult routes in challenging conditions, such as the Himalayan
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
winter season.
Buhler is a graduate of The Putney School
The Putney School
The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. It was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton. It is a co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school, with a day-student component, located outside of Brattleboro, Vermont. Emily Jones is the director...
and is a 1978 graduate of Western Washington University
Western Washington University
Western Washington University is one of six state-funded, four-year universities of higher education in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located in Bellingham and offers bachelor's and master's degrees.-History:...
, one of only 66 recipients of the school's highest honor (Distiniguished Alumni Award), and currently resides in Canmore, Alberta
Canmore, Alberta
Canmore is a town in Alberta, Canada, located approximately west of the City of Calgary near the southeast boundary of Banff National Park. It is located in the Bow Valley within Alberta's Rockies. The town shares a border with Kananaskis Country to the west and south and the Municipal District of...
, Canada. He is married and the father of two.
Notable ascents
- 1983 Kangshung FaceKangshung Face, Mount EverestThe Kangshung Face is the East Face of Mount Everest, one of the Tibetan sides of the mountain. It is 3,350 metres from its base on the Kangshung Glacier to the summit. It is a broad face, topped on the right by the upper Northeast Ridge, and on the left by the Southeast Ridge and the South Col...
/ Lowe Buttress, Mount EverestMount EverestMount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
, NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
/TibetTibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
. FA of route: summited 8 October 1983 with Kim Momb and Louis ReichardtLouis ReichardtLouis Reichardt is a noted American mountaineer, the first American to summit both Everest and K2. He is also a Professor of Physiology and Biochemistry/Biophysics at UCSF, where he studies neuroscience. The character of Harold Jameson, U.C.S.F...
. George Lowe, Dan Reid and Jay Cassell summited the next day. - 1985 Northeast Face on Ama DablamAma DablamAma Dablam is a mountain in the Himalaya range of eastern Nepal. The main peak is , the lower western peak is . Ama Dablam means "Mother's necklace"; the long ridges on each side like the arms of a mother protecting her child, and the hanging glacier thought of as the dablam, the traditional...
, NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. FA of route with Michael KennedyMichael Kennedy (climber)Michael Kennedy is an American rock climber, alpinist, photographer, writer and editor.From 1974 to 1998 he was the editor of Climbing magazine, the most influential of American climbing magazines...
, Dec 1-7, 1985. - 1988 North Face, KangchenjungaKangchenjungaKangchenjunga is the third highest mountain of the world with an elevation of and located along the India-Nepal border in the Himalayas.Kangchenjunga is also the name of the section of the Himalayas and means "The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains five peaks, four of them over...
, Himalaya with Peter HabelerPeter HabelerPeter Habeler is an Austrian mountaineer. He was born in Mayrhofen, Austria.Among his accomplishments as a mountaineer are his first ascents in the Rocky Mountains. He was also the first European to climb on the Big Walls in Yosemite National Park.He began climbing with Reinhold Messner in 1969. ...
(Austria) and Martin Zabaleta (Spain/Basque). - 1989 West Ridge (repeat), Cho OyuCho OyuCho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world at above sea level. Cho Oyu lies in the Himalayas and is 20 km west of Mount Everest, at the border between China and Nepal...
with Martin Zabaleta (Spain/Basque). - 1990 Northeast Ridge DhaulagiriDhaulagiriDhaulagiri is Earth's seventh highest mountain at ; one of fourteen over eight thousand metres. Dhaulagiri was first climbed May 13, 1960 by a Swiss/Austrian expedition....
, NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. Summit reached with Nuru Sherpa (Nepal) and Dainius Makauskas (Lithuania), October 31, 1990. Dainius disappeared on the descent. Buhler lost half a toe to frostbite. - 1997 The East Face (Alaska Grade 6-, 8500'), University Peak, Saint Elias MountainsSaint Elias MountainsThe Saint Elias Mountains are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in the USA and Kluane...
, AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
USA. with Charlie Sassara, April 29-May 5, 1997. - 1999 The Lightening Route (VII 5.9 A4 WI4, 1580m), north face of ChangabangChangabangChangabang is a mountain in the Garhwal Himalaya of Uttarakhand, India. It is part of a group of peaks that form the northeast wall of the Nanda Devi Sanctuary. It is a particularly steep and rocky peak, and all routes on it are serious undertakings. It has been the site of many significant climbs...
, GarhwalGarhwal DivisionGarhwal is the north-western region and administrative division of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand which is home to the Garhwali people. Lying in the Himalayas, It is bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east by Kumaon region, on the south by Uttar Pradesh state, and on the north-west by...
Himalaya, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. FA with Andrei Volkov, Andrei Mareiv, Ivan Dusharin and Pavel Chabaline (all Russian). April 16 - June 6, 1998.
Notable honors
- Fulfilled dying wish of Russian composer, Alexander ScriabinAlexander ScriabinAlexander Nikolayevich Scriabin was a Russian composer and pianist who initially developed a lyrical and idiosyncratic tonal language inspired by the music of Frédéric Chopin. Quite independent of the innovations of Arnold Schoenberg, Scriabin developed an increasingly atonal musical system,...
, to have his last composition, MysteriumMysterium (Scriabin)Mysterium is an unfinished musical work by composer Alexander Scriabin. He started working on the composition in 1903, but it was incomplete at the time of his death in 1915.Scriabin planned that the work would be synesthetic,...
, performed in the Himalayas (at Milarepa base camp). - Selected by the American Alpine ClubAmerican Alpine ClubThe American Alpine Club, or AAC, was founded in 1902 by Charles Ernest Fay, and is the leading national organization in the United States devoted to mountaineering, climbing, and the multitude of issues facing climbers...
at age 23 to join a prestigious, high-profile Soviet-American team to climb in the Pamir Range of Central Asia.
Honors in American mountaineering
- 2007 Robert and Miriam Underhill Award, American Alpine ClubAmerican Alpine ClubThe American Alpine Club, or AAC, was founded in 1902 by Charles Ernest Fay, and is the leading national organization in the United States devoted to mountaineering, climbing, and the multitude of issues facing climbers...
- 2004 Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Award (awarded for cutting edge “bold first ascents or difficult repeats of most challenging routes”)
- 2002 Ranked “Best of the Best”, and only American among the top four for all international high altitude climbers, by Everestnews.com. (2002 was the last year ranking was compiled.)
- 2001 Polartec Challenge Award, for “vision, commitment, credibility and respect for the local culture and environment [which] serve as role models to outdoor enthusiasts worldwide.”
- 1988 Mugs StumpMugs StumpMugs Stump was a noted American rock climber and mountaineer, active in establishing difficult first ascents in the Alaska Range and the Canadian Rockies...
Award, first year awarded. (Award honors “climbers attempting alpine climbing objectives that exemplify fast, light and clean tactics.”) - 1988 American Mountain Foundation Award, for 1st American ascent of Kangchenjunga, world’s 3rd highest mountain.
- Western Washington University, Distinguished Alumni Award (1 of only 66 recipients, out of about 87,000 alum).
- Keynote speaker at leading mountain and wilderness film festivals:
- 2002 Telluride Mountain Film
- 2003 Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival
- 2004 Banff Mountain Film Festival
- 2006 Juror, Trento Mountain Film Festival