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\nKURT ALBERT (1954 – 2010)
\nThe redpoint warrior
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\nKurt Albert died on the 28 September falling from a via ferrata near Erlangen.
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\nAt the age of 14 he started, with other kids from Nurenburg, his long climbing journey, and just 3 years later, he\u2019d already climbed some of the Alps\u2019 major routes, such as the Walker Spur of the Grandes Jorasses, followed shortly afterwards by the north face of the Eiger.
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\nBut the turning point in his way of climbing came with his first visit to the Elbsandstein (Saxony \u2013 ex-East Germany), where climbers were already climbing almost as they do now, rather than in the prevalent style of the time, using pegs for progression. Kurt was infected by the revolutionary air circulating among those sandstone towers, where the only protection was provided by rings hammered into the soft rock. The distance between the rings meant the climbing between them had to be unaided.
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\nKurt immediately realised the significance of the new vision, and the importance of training to climb harder, \u00a0and defined free climbing as we know it today.\u00a0In 1975 Kurt invented the rotpunkt\u00a0(literally, redpoint), a term today universally used to define a route climbed without using aid or resting.\u00a0To identify the routes that\u2019d been climbed in this style, he painted at the foot of the route \u2013 on the rock \u2013 a small red circle.
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\nWith Wolfgang G\u00fcllich, Flipper Fietz and Norbert Sandner he scoured the rocks of the Frankenjura and in just a few years was able to make several very hard redpoints, which with Magnet reached in 1982, grade IX (7c).
\nIn the Dolomites with Gerold Sprachmann he made two important first free ascents: the Via degli Svizzeri (Swiss route) on the Cima Ovest di Lavaredo\u00a0and the Hasse-Brandler on the Cima Grande.
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\nIn the meantime, he graduated in maths and started to work as a school teacher, but his passion for the freedom of wide open spaces, trips and adventure led him to the planet\u2019s most remote walls, in search of virgin territory to apply the redpoint philosophy.
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\nHis companions in these adventures were some of Germany\u2019s best climbers, such as Wolfgang G\u00fcllich, Bernd Arnold, Stefan Glowacz, Holger Heuber and many others. From the First Free Ascent (FFA) of the via yugoslava on the Nameless Tower – 7b at 6200 metres altitude \u2013 ( Trango Tower \u2013 Karakorum- Pakistan) in 1988 to Hotel Gu\u00e1charo (7a+\/550m) Roraima-Tepuis in Venezuela in 2009, he was constantly travelling and searching for new challenges and places to explore.
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\nChina, Venezuela, Karakorum, India, Canada, Patagonia, Greenland, and so on, there are few places where Kurt hadn\u2019t set foot. He left us grand lines on the world\u2019s toughest faces,\u00a0milestones that have inspired and made dream climbers of successive generations.
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\nHis talks around Europe were memorable, occasions to talk about climbing but also great entertainment. Kurt knew how to communicate his passion for what he considered more than just a sport.\u00a0\u00a0We will all miss friendly Kurt and his carefree lifestyle, and his simple way of getting on with things and never taking himself too seriously.
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\nSome of Kurt Albert\u2019s routes\u00a0
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\n1982\u00a0Magnet\u00a07c (IX) Frankenjura
\n1987 FFA\u00a0Hasse \u2013 Brandler 7a+ (VIII) Cima Grande di Lavaredo
\n1987 FFA Swiss Route 7c (IX-) Cima Ovest di Lavaredo,
\n1987 Solo Rubberneck 7a+ (VIII+), Richard Wagnser Fels, Frankenjura
\n1988 Solo Courage Fouyons (7b), Buoux, Francia
\n1988 FFA \u00a0Jugoslawenroute (7a+), Nameless Tower, Karakorum
\n1989 First ascent Eternal Flame 7b+(IX-, 3 punti aiuto.), Nameless Tower, Karakorum
\n1990 First ascent Riders on the Storm (IX), Paine Central Tower, Patagonia – Cile
\n1993 First ascent Stairway to Heaven 7c (IX), Roraima, Venezuela
\n1994 First ascent Moby Dick 7c+ (IX+), Ulamertorsuaq, Groenlandia
\n1995 First ascent Royal Flush 7c (IX), Fitz Roy, Patagonia – Argentina
\n1995 First ascent Fitzcarraldo (VIII+) Mount Harrison Smith, Cirque of Unclimbables, Canada
\n1996 First ascent Gelbe Mauer 7c (IX) Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Dolomiti
\n1997 First ascent Nordlicht 7a+ (VIII+), Tupilak, Groenlandia
\n1998 First ascent El Condorito (IX), Aguja St. Exupery, Patagonia – Argentina
\n1999 First ascent Vela y Viento 7c (IX-), Aguja Mermoz, Patagonia – Argentina
\n1999 First ascent Hart am Wind 7a+ (VIII+), Cape Renard Tower, Antarctica
\n2000 First ascent Odyssee 2000\u00a07a+(VIII+, 500m), Baffin Island,Canada
\n2001 First ascent La conjura de los nejos (IX+; El Gigante,\u00a0Mexico)
\n2002 First ascent on Vampire Peak (VIII+), Lotus Mountain, Canada
\n2003 Repeat: Story About Dancing Dogs 7c( IX\/600m) Mt. Poi, Ndoto Mountains, Kenya
\n2006 First ascent El Purgatorio 7c (IX \/650m, Acopan Tepuis, Venzuela
\n2007 Expedition to Sablija, Ural, Russia
\n2008 First ascent El Nido del TirikTirik (7b\/400m) Castillo, Venezuela
\n2009 First ascent Hotel Gu\u00e1charo (7a+\/550m) Roraima-Tepuis, Venezuela.
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\nPhotos: Claudia Ziegler\u00a0\u00a0 Martin Schepers\u00a0 Kurt Albert coll.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 KURT ALBERT (1954 – 2010) The redpoint warrior \u00a0 Kurt Albert died on the 28 September falling from a via ferrata near Erlangen. \u00a0 At the age of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8066],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-boulder"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n