Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner’s interest in mountain climbing was born while she was very young and grew from there. Her stunning entry into the world of mountaineering was initiated by the head of a church youth group in her Upper Austrian hometown, Spital am Pyhrn - the local minister, Dr Erich Tischler. After mass on Sundays, he took Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner on all sorts of climbing tours – starting with the mountains that surround her hometown. As the years passed, she did not miss an opportunity to go mountain climbing.

She fulfilled her biggest dream – conquering an eight-thousander – at the age of 23 by ascending the Broad Peak lower-secondary summit in Pakistan at an elevation of 8,027 metres. Ever since then, she has had nothing but visions of heights and the highest mountains floating through her head. After conquering the Nanga Parbat in 2003 as her fifth eight-thousander, she devoted her life to professional mountaineering. When she reached the summit of the K2 in 2011, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner stood at the pinnacle of her career: She had climbed all 14 eight-thousanders.

With my LOWAs, I have always been safe and comfortable on every journey and expedition I have made!
- Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner