Carlos Buhler

Carlos' climbing career spans five decades with major ascents on five continents. He draws from experience gained on forty-six expeditions in Canada, Alaska, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Uganda, Kenya, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Tibet. In 1983, he climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest with the American team that made the first ascent of the Kangshung (East) Face from Tibet, reaching the summit with Kim Momb and Louis Reichardt. It was Everest's last unclimbed face and its ascent established the mountain's most technically demanding route. Their climb has never been repeated. Click Here Carlos's climbing is known for expanding his abilities to scale difficult routes using small, efficient teams and lightweight tactics. In 1978, Carlos made his first trip to Asia. The American Alpine Club selected Carlos, at the age of 23, to be a member of the joint Soviet-American team hosted by the former Soviet Union's Mountaineering Federation to climb in the Pamir Range of Tajikistan in Central Asia. It was not an auspicious beginning. Carlos and two team mates, Steve Hackett and Reilly Moss, became ill and were flown to a hospital in Dushanbe. Eventually, Steve and Carlos succeeded only in making the ascent of an easy peak, Ordzhonikidze (6,346 m / 20,820 ft.) Click Here In 1980, his luck in Asia changed; Carlos was invited to join the Spanish Aragon Himalayan Expedition where he and his Spanish partners, Lorenzo Ortas, Javier Escartin, and Jerónimo López, made the first ascent of Baruntse's striking East Ridge (7,162 m / 23,497 ft.) and the first American and Spanish ascents of the mountain. Click Here In 1984, he led a six-member Canadian-American assault up the legendary West Pillar of Makalu (8,481 m / 27,825 ft.), the world's fifth highest peak. Though only the third team to complete the difficult West Pillar, on their summit day, Dwayne Congdon and Carlos made the smart but heart-wrenching choice to abandon the attempt just below the summit on the SE Ridge. Click Here In 1985, during a bitter cold December, he and his single American partner, Michael Kennedy, pioneered the first ascent of the awe-inspiring Northeast Face of Ama Dablam (6,812 m / 22,349 ft.). This mountain, the sacred and spectacular peak in the Khumbu region of Nepal, has never had a repeat ascent by this route. Click Here In 1988, he organized and led the first successful American Expedition to Kangchenjunga (8,586 m / 28,169 ft.), the world's third highest peak. While coordinating this ultra-light team on its fierce North Wall and Ridge, Carlos (becoming the first American), Peter Habeler and Martin Zabaleta stood atop this colossal challenge, opening a Northwest Face to North Ridge variant. They succeeded only by working together as a Nepali (Lhakpa Dorje, Ang Nima and Dawa Nuru), Austrian and Basque team. Click Here In April 1989, he succeeded in climbing the world's sixth highest peak, Cho Oyu (8,188 m / 26,864 ft.), in a two-man, pure alpine style ascent of its elegant Southwest Pillar / West Face with Martin Zabaleta. Click Here During the autumn of 1990, Carlos led a four member International Expedition to Dhaulagiri I (8,167 m / 26,795 ft.). In reaching this renowned summit with his Lithuanian and and Nepali partners, Dainius Makauskas and Nuru Sherpa, he became the first North American to have climbed four of the world's fourteen peaks over 8000 meters (26,250 ft.). Tragedy struck on the descent, however, with Dainius disappearing, most certainly from a fall. In April 1992, Carlos's British partner, Jon Aylward, became sick in Base Camp just before their attempt of Nepal's majestic peak, Dorje Lhakpa (6,966 m / 22,854 ft.). Despite this setback, he accomplished the project, making the first solo ascent of this spectacular Himalayan mountain by its demanding West Ridge. Click Here In the year 1994, Carlos encountered one of his most difficult mountaineering decisions. Short of daylight, he and his Polish companion, Krzysztof Wielicki, turned back just twenty minutes from the highest point of K2 (8,610 m / 28,250 ft.), the planet's second highest peak. Two years later, Carlos returned to K2 to attempt the extremely daunting Chinese North Ridge. In August 1996, he reached the summit of this notorious objective with two Russian companions, Sergei Pensov and Igor Benkin. Very few have reached the summit on this remote ridge. But once again, the descent brought horror, with the death of Igor. Click Here In July 1997, Carlos led the Russian-American Nanga Parbat Expedition to success. He and his Russian partners, Ivan Dusharin and Andrei Mariev, became the first American and first Russians to climb this infamous mountain (8,126 m / 26,660 ft., the world's ninth highest), in Pakistan. Click Here In 1998, Carlos led his same Russian friends to tackle the sheer, 5,200 foot North Face of Changabang (6,864 m / 22,520 ft.) in the Indian Himalaya. After living 16 days on the vertical wall, the five-man team, Ivan Dusharin, Andrei Mariev, Pavel Chabaline, Andrei Volkov, and Carlos reached the summit together. Their ascent established one of the most difficult "big wall" routes yet achieved in the Himalayan Mountains. Click Here In the spring of 1999, Carlos and his American teammate, Mark Price, climbed a new route on the West Face of the Peruvian peak, Siula Grande (6,344 m / 20,814 ft.) - the mountain described in Simpson's book, Touching the Void. Click Here Later that year, Carlos and Mark made the first ascent of the stunning Milarepa Peak (6,262 m / 20,569 ft.), in the Rowaling Himalaya of Tibet, by its East Face. In August of 2000, Carlos explored the little known Ishkoman Valley in the Hindu Raj Mountains of Northwest Pakistan. Here, he and his Russian friend, Ivan Dusharin, made the first ascent of the valley's most striking summit, Kampur Peak (5499 m / 18,041 ft.), by its Northwest Face. During the winter of 2002, Carlos joined Russian and Spanish friends to explore winter routes in the Open Caucasus project. Together they made bone chilling winter ascents of Mt. Elbrus (5,642 m / 18,510ft.) and Peak Caucasus. Later that year, Carlos climbed with the American team attempting the notorious Sepu Kangri (6,956 m / 22,822 ft.). On October 2nd, he and his partner made the first ascent of this remote summit in the Nyanchen Tangla Mountains of Eastern Tibet. Click Here In 2003 Carlos and his American partners made the first ascents of two extreme alpine faces: in Alaska, on Gunnar Naslund’s East Face with Glenn Dunmire (3,858 m / 12,658 ft.) and in Peru, on Pucajirca North’s West Face with Thaddeus Josephson (6,046 m / 19,836 ft.). Click Here Over 7 days in May, 2005, Carlos and two Russian companions, Yury Koshelenko and Nikolay Totmyanin, climbed the 1500 m of extremely technical, virgin terrain on the North Face of Menlungtse in Tibet (7,181 m / 23,559 ft.). However, the threesome abandoned their summit attempt when Yury fell ill and were forced to descend the dangerous wall they had just surmounted. In 2008 with his Spanish teammate from Catalonia, the pair succeeded on the ascent of the 2000 foot East Face of the Chilean mountain icon, Cerro Castillo in Patagonia. (2,675 m / 8776 ft.) Today, Carlos continues to climb predominantly near his home in the Canadian Rockies of western Canada. He is a highly experienced public speaker, management consultant, and meeting facilitator. He applies his leadership experience in mountaineering to help organizations solve problems in guiding teams towards increased performance, and promoting organizational transformation through executive development. Click Here

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“What they did has to be considered among the two or three most difficult big-wall Himalayan climbs ever done.”

Dougald Mcdonald, Past editor-in-chief of Rock and Ice magazine, quoted in Men’s Journal, Sept., 1998, after the first ascent of Changabang’s North Face Direct.

"His climbing career is the one by which I judge all others. His achievements are unparalleled in American climbing, and probably in world climbing."

Damien Gildea, Author of Mountaineering in Antarctica and leader of seven successful expeditions to the remote and little explored ranges of the Antarctic Continent

"The American climber Carlos Buhler is one of the world's most successful expeditioners. Over the last 25 years he has been at the forefront of exploratory mountaineering, with many first ascents in Peru, Alaska and the Himalaya. High altitude successes include alpine ascents of K2 North Ridge with the Russians, Kangchenjunga North Face with Peter Habeler and the first ascent of Everest's Kangshung Face. However, it is on the more elegant, 6000ers and 7000ers that he has really made his mark, most notably on Changabang's North Face Direct and, this year, the first ascent of Sepu Kangri"

Stephen Venables, Spokesman for the Alpine Club, Great Britain, quoted in preparation for Carlos’s lecture to the Alpine Club, in London, Nov, 2003

"Buhler is “arguably" the best American Himalayan climber there is. Nobody has had such a long and distinguished career as he has"

Dr. Louis F. Reichardt, Former President of the American Alpine Club and neurobiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, quoted in the November, 2002, Bozeman Chronicle story after Carlos’s first ascent of Tibet’s Sepu Kangri

“He has spent the last quarter century amassing a record of ascents and attempts that rivals anyone, anywhere. A vigorous proponent and practitioner of the small and self-sufficient expedition, Buhler has pushed the edge of the alpinism envelope as aggressively as any climber in the world…”

2003 Mountainfilm, Telluride, Colorado's annual international festival of mountain film, art and ideas to promote a better world

The parallels were immediately drawn between the critical success factors that lead to a successful summit and those that lead to a successful company. The one item that is key to both, which was very well delivered by you, is individual commitment. It was very apparent that commitment differentiated your group from previous Everest expeditions, and that with full group commitment, in conjunction with a well put together plan, most anything can be accomplished.

Bernie W. Stewart, President, Western Oceanic, Inc., Houston, Texas

You give new definition to excellence—both in your personal accomplishments as well as in your skill in sharing your story on stage. You have our respect, and our deep appreciation.

Peter Yaremko, Manager, Publication and Events, Rolm Corporation Santa Clara, California

“He is a leader in converting the sport of alpine climbing from an assault mentality to one of group centered, strategic planning; mutual respect between climbers and sherpas; use of high tech gear; and best environmental practices.”

Ted Mischaikov, Member of the Western Washington University Foundation Board of Directors and President and COO of the Trillium Corporation, quoted in Windows on Western, News for Alumni and Friends of Western Washington University, spring 2003

"My personal highlight was definitely the ascent of Kangchenjunga in Alpine style with Carlos Buhler and Martin Zabaleta in 1988...We were lucky to survive."

Peter Habeler, Austrian mountaineer who, together with R. Messner, made the first oxygenless ascent of Mt. Everest in 1978.