- He spent much of his life supporting the cause of the Tibetan people.
- Is portrayed by Brad Pitt in Seven Years in Tibet (1997).
- He was the first person to climb the difficult North face of the Eiger in the Swiss Alps in 1938 but won world renown after his book "Seven Years in Tibet" was published. Its film version was directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud in 1997.
- Became a member of the Nazi Party, following the 1938 Austrian Anschluss.
- A famous mountaineer, he was one of the four-man team that made the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland.
- Led expeditions to the Amazon, the Himalayas and the 'Mountains of the Moon' in Central Africa.
- Was an Olympic skier.
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