Early Climbing Career
At the age of twenty Preuss began to climb at a respectable level. A month shy of his twenty-second birthday, he accomplished his first important ascent, the Pichl-Route on the North Face of the Planspitze – solo. By dint of climbing and traversing a remarkable number of mountains in a short period of time, Preuss acquired the experience, skill, technique, ability and speed that were to provide the foundation for his groundbreaking ascents. Over his short career he made 1,200 ascents, three hundred of which were done solo, and one hundred and fifty of which were first ascents. Preuss was a well-rounded alpinist, not only mastering rock but making first ascents on snow and ice as well. He also pursued ski mountaineering, ski traverses (accomplishing firsts in both these areas) and snowshoeing. When stuck studying in Munich, he would often go “buildering” on the Propylaea, with his companion on the lookout for such objective hazards as the local constabulary.
Though he would often solo and would usually avoid climbing or skiing in overly-trafficked areas, he was not anti-social by any means. He loved being with a small group of friends, and often climbed with friends, including many women, such as his sister Mina. He is said to have been very amiable, witty and fun-loving, as well as self-sacrificing in favor of his friends, one of whom, Walter Bing, reminiscing in his tribute to Preuss's life, wrote of him: Ach! One of the most dreadful characteristics of our beloved “Preusserl” was that he was inclined to crack the same lame old incredibly punchline-less joke ten times a day, and yet ten times a day we laughed at it and were gladdened by it. On the fiftieth anniversary of Preuss's death Kurt Maix writes of him: His climbing partners – insofar as they are still living, they are old white-haired men – say of him: “He was a real rascal, a dear rascal. An extremely bright rascal.” He was also an excellent chess player, tennis player, ice skater, and spoke English, French, German and Italian.
Read more about this topic: Paul Preuss (climber)
Famous quotes containing the words early, climbing and/or career:
“Never hug and kiss your children! Mother love may make your childrens infancy unhappy and prevent them from pursuing a career or getting married! Thats total hogwash, of course. But it shows on extreme example of what state-of-the-art scientific parenting was supposed to be in early twentieth-century America. After all, that was the heyday of efficiency experts, time-and-motion studies, and the like.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)
“These are the warnings
that you must forget
if youre climbing out of yourself.
If youre going to smash into the sky.”
—Anne Sexton (19281974)
“Work-family conflictsthe trade-offs of your money or your life, your job or your childwould not be forced upon women with such sanguine disregard if men experienced the same career stalls caused by the-buck-stops-here responsibility for children.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)