[citation needed] Regardless, his monumental efforts, along with spending the night standing on a tiny pedestal too small to squat upon, untethered, on the edge of a 60-degree ice slope, have become mountaineering legend, described by Bonington as "a magnificent achievement".

However, it was a few days later, between June 8 and 9, that Wintersteller, Schmuck, Diemberger, and Buhl reached the true summit of Broad Peak (8051m), and achieved the first successful ascent of the mountain.

[6] Just a few weeks after the successful first ascent of Broad Peak, Buhl and Diemberger made an attempt on nearby, unclimbed Chogolisa (7665 m) in Alpine style.

[6] His ascents on rock and snow, solo and as a rope leader, his attitude towards the mountain and his physical elegance have been assessed by such contemporary luminaries as Kurt Diemberger, Marcus Schmuck, Heinrich Harrer, Walter Bonatti and Gaston Rébuffat.

[citation needed] He was also an idol and hero of climbers of younger generations, such as Reinhold Messner,[2] Peter Habeler[7] and Hansjörg Auer.