Hanspeter Eisendle wins Paul Preuss award

"I can do whatever I am capable of." This was the leitmotiv of the young philosopher and mountaineer Paul Preus, who died in 1913 at the age of 27 in a climbing accident on the Gosau crest. The award, created in 2013 to celebrate the centenary of the death of Paul Preuss and first awarded to Reinhold Messner last year, aims to be a stimulus for alpinists to continue to put into practice Preuss' ideals.

This year's Paul Preuss prize was awarded during the Kiku. International Mountain Summit (IMS) in Brixen to Hanspeter Eisendle, the legendary South Tyrolean alpinist. A delegation from Ausserland comprised of Lutz Maurer, Hans Fuchs and Markus Raich took part in the awards ceremony, as did the IMS organisers Markus Gaiser and Alex Ploner, along with 600 visitors and journalists.

Reinhold Messner took stage and described Eisendle as one of the best mountaineers in the Alps of the last 35 years. In his speech Messner held in highest regard the "mental interpenetration of mountaineering", something that was always present in Paul Preuss' climbs. According to Messner it is this ability to think clearly, aplying a uncompromising, direct language devoid of the superfluous, what distinguishes the 2014 winner. Furthermore, Messner underlined Eisendle's courageous approach to alpinism, as he manages to do without bureaucracy, committees, moral and ethical principles. The mountains would protect themselves from the crowds, thanks to their intrinsically wild nature and danger, added Messner.

Having received the Paul Preuss award, Hanspeter Eisendle will now form part of the next jury that will decide on the winner in 2015.