National Geographic K2 Danger and Desire on the Savage Mountain - Autographed by Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner was named "National Geographic's Explorer of the Year" in 2012 for her extraordinary achievement of becoming the first woman to summit all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks without using supplementary oxygen.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner's interest in mountain climbing developed while she was growing up in Spital am Pyhrn, Austria. Reverend Erich Tischler, the town's youth leader, would take her on climbs up the surrounding mountains after church services. At the age of 13, Kaltenbrunner ventured up her first major peak, "Sturzhahn," a 2,028-meter climb, and then rarely skipped an opportunity to go climbing. She enjoyed ski, ice, and climbing tours while she completed her nursing training in Upper Austria and Vienna.

Her greatest dream-climbing an 8,000-meter peak-came true at the age of 23, when she succeeded in climbing the fore-summit of Broad Peak in Pakistan, at a height of 8,027 meters. She then put the money she earned as a nurse into different trekking and climbing expeditions to the Himalaya. After climbing the Nanga Parbat-her fifth 8,000-meter peak-in 2003, she decided to become a professional mountain climber.

Today, Kaltenbrunner has climbed all 14 main peaks in the 8,000-meter series. When she reached the summit of K2 (8,611 meters), she became the first woman to scale all 8,000-meter peaks without the use of supplementary oxygen. In addition to her passion for climbing the high mountains of the Himalaya, she also is enchanted with the people and culture of the region.

Take home this signed National Geographic which features a story on Gerlinde herself.

Donated By American Alpine Club