In front of his 31-year-old son, the long-time ex-secretary general of the Austrian Alpine Club, Robert Renzler, fell 60 meters into the depths in the Schmirntal.
Schmirn – Robert Renzler was one of Austria's great climbing luminaries: The mountain and ski guide had completed over 1,000 climbing tours on the great north faces of the Alps, in the Dolomites and in Yosemite and had safely led expeditions to Gasherbrum II (8,034 metres) and Masherbrum (7,821 metres) in the Karakoram Mountains (Pakistan), among others.
Austria: Exceptional alpinist falls 60 meters to his death at the Brenner Pass – son has to watch it
Now the 67-year-old Tyrolean had a fatal accident on a rock face just six kilometers from his hometown of Gries am Brenner: On Saturday, Renzler climbed with his son (31) on the 200-meter-high Stafflachwand in the Schmirntal, which branches off from the Wipptal leading to the Brenner to the east near Gries. The Stafflachwand has a difficulty level of 4 ("Great difficulties. This is where the climbing of sharper direction begins") – i.e. a moderately difficult wall, the difficulty scale reaches up to 8 and higher.
Fatal alpine accident in Austria: ÖAV ex-official has an accident while climbing the Brenner Pass. © ZOOM. TYROL
The saving grip went nowhere – exceptional alpinist still noticed the mistake
"After the last pitch, the two abseiled down the separately set up abseiling slope," reports the Tyrolean police. That's when Renzler made the momentous mistake: According to initial investigations, the 67-year-old is likely to have "not fixed himself at all or incorrectly fixed himself in the abseiling stand" before he disengaged from the abseiling device. The exceptional alpinist noticed the mistake and tried to reach into the free-hanging rope!
The grip went nowhere, Renzler fell backwards in free fall over 60 meters to the foot of the Stafflachwand. His son, with the help of another climber, immediately abseiled down to his father and tried to resuscitate him. The 67-year-old was then rescued by emergency helicopter using rope, but succumbed to his injuries at the intermediate landing site.
Robert Renzler was Secretary General of the PES from 2002 to 2020 and has been an honorary member since 2021. "With Robert Renzler, the Alpine Club family has lost an extraordinary personality whose commitment leaves a deep and lasting impression on the Alpine Club," said ÖAV President Andreas Ermacora and PES Secretary General Clemens Matt on the association's homepage. "His sudden and unexpected death shocks us deeply and fills us with deep sadness. Robert Renzler lost his life in an activity that was not only a passion for him, but the essence of life itself."
The Austrian Alpine Club (ÖAV) mourns the loss of its former Secretary General Robert Renzler. © ÖAV/Elias Holzknecht