Luis Stitzinger

Stitzinger was one of the most prominent big mountain skiers of his generation, known for his ten successful summits of eight-thousanders, and ski descents of seven of them.

He was said to have been "born with skis on his feet" and was the son of Volkmar Stitzinger, a prominent mountain guide and pioneer of the local German Alpine Club.

[2] It was at university where he met fellow mountaineer Alix von Melle, with whom he would climb six eight-thousanders together, including Broad Peak, Manaslau and Shishapangma.

[1] From 1998 to 2003, Stitzinger worked for the Munich section of the German Alpine Club as the head of the mountaineering department, library, and managed equipment rental.

Then from 2004 to 2012 he led expeditions and extreme mountaineering for the DAV Summit Club program, a subsidiary of the German Alpine Association focusing on hiking, trekking, climbing, mountaineering, ski touring, snowshoeing, and cycling trips across the globe.

2000 Cho Oyu (8188 m) leading the German Alpine Club DAV Summit Club- Autumn Expedition.

After the successful climb, Josef Lunger and Stitzinger stayed on the mountain a little longer to try to traverse the 10 km long Mazeno Ridge to the summit of Nanga Parbat.

Before reaching the Mazeno Col (6940 m), they had to stop after seven days of climbing due to running out of food supplies, where they descended back to base camp via Reinhold Messner's solo route (1978).

Alongside his wife, Alix von Melle, Stitzinger successfully summited on 30 September.

[10] Stitzinger then skied down from the summit to just above base camp, with two interruptions (descent on foot approx.

Stitzinger summited Everest on 24 May, while serving as an expedition leader for an international group of climbers.

[14] His last radio contact was around 9 p.m., inaccurately reporting he was at an altitude of 8,200 or 8,300 meters and would reach Camp IV in just over two hours.