Published July 7, 2006 09:13AM
Hans Gmoser Dies After Bike Accident
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Photo of Hans Gmoser by Elsa Wyatt, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, courtesy of Canadian Mountain Holidays.
Legendary Canadian mountaineer Hans Gmoser, 73, died this week after a cycling accident. Gmoser founded Canadian Mountain Holidays, a leading guide service and helicopter skiing operation, in 1957, and he inspired generations of Rockies climbers and skiers.
Gmoser immigrated to Canada from Austria as a teenager. He made the first ascent of the 1,000-foot limestone cliff of Yamnuska, introducing a new standard of technical climbing to the Rockies, and then added several more difficult routes to the face. Gmoser led important climbs on Mt. Blackburn, Mt. Logan, and Denali, where his team made the first ascent of the enormous Wickersham Wall in 1963. He retired from CMH in the early 1990s but remained extremely active in road biking and Nordic skiing.
For a complete obituary, see http://www.canadianmountainholidays.com/cgi-bin/newsPages.py?sectionID=2.