Austrian Hari Berger died on December 20 while ice climbing close to his home town near Salzburg. The three-time ice climbing world champion was most recently featured in the November 28 NewsWire for his establishment, with Ondra Benes and Tomas Sobotka from the Czech Republic and fellow Austrian Florian Scheimpflug, of the 2,400-foot route Short Cut (5.13a, 16 pitches) on Madagascar’s Tsaranoro Massif. In addition to pioneering extreme ice routes around the world and climbing multi-pitch 5.14 alpine routes such as Silbergeier (8b+), Des Kaisers neue Kleider (8b+) and “The End Of Silence” (8b+) in the Ratikon, Berger was an expert B.A.S.E jumper. He leaves behind his girlfriend Kirsten, who is in the ninth month of her pregnancy. “It’s a super sad day,” said friend Christian Jaeggi. “Hari was a truly great individual and extremely talented climber. We’ll miss him.”
