Carlos Buhler (born October 17, 1954 in Harrison, New York) is one of America's leading high altitude mountaineers. Buhler's specialty is high-standard mountaineering characterized by small teams, no oxygen, minimal gear and equipment, and relatively low amounts of funding; yielding first ascents of difficult routes in challenging conditions, such as the Himalayan winter season.
Buhler is a graduate of The Putney School and is a 1978 graduate of the Huxley College of the Environment, Western Washington University. He is a recipient of the university's Distinguished Alumni Award, and currently resides in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. He has two children.
Notable ascents
1977 North Face, Mount Temple (Alberta), Canadian Rockies, Canada. First winter ascent of face with Phil Hein (Canada). January, 1977. 1977 Super Couloir (North Face), Deltaform Mountain, Canadian Rockies, Canada. First winter ascent of face with Mark Whalen (Canada). February, 1977. 1977 West Face, Extremo (Huayna) Ausangate, Cordillera Blanca, Peru. First ascent of face with Lorenzo Ortas (Spain). June, 1977. 1980 East Ridge, Baruntse, Barun Valley, Himalaya, Nepal. New route and 2nd ascent with Lorenzo Ortas, Javier Escartin, and Jeronimo Lopez (all Spain). April 27, 1980. Gonzalo Prado and Lhakpa Dorje Sherpa reached summit next day. 1981 South Face to East Ridge Traverse, Obispo, East Ridge to West Ridge Traverse, Fraile Grande, El Altar, Sangay National Park, Ecuador, with (Obispo) David Jones (America). November, 1981 and (Fraile Grande) Michael Orr (Great Britain). December 1981. 1983 Kangshung Face, Mount Everest, Himalaya, Nepal/Tibet. First ascent of face and route with Kim Momb and Louis Reichardt (both America). October 8, 1983. George Lowe, Dan Reid and Jay Cassell (all America) reached summit next day. 1984 French Route, South Face, Aconcagua, Principal Cordillera, Andes, with Sharon Wood (Canada), December 17-22, 1984. 1985 Southern Cross, Anqosh (North) Face, Huascarán Sur, Cordillera Blanca, Peru. First ascent of route with Sharon Wood (Canada), July 24-29, 1985. 1985 Northeast Face, Ama Dablam, Himalaya, Nepal. First ascent of face and route with Michael Kennedy (America), Dec 1-7, 1985. 1987 | East Face, Pumasillo, Southeast Face, Mellizos, Vilcabamba mountain range, Andes, Peru. First ascent of both faces with Paul Harris (Great Britain). August 23-29, 1987. 1988 Northwest Face/North Ridge, Kangchenjunga, Himalaya, Nepal. First American ascent with Peter Habeler (Austria) and Martin Zabaleta (Spain/Basque). May 3, 1988. 1989 West (Polish) Ridge, Cho Oyu, Himalaya, Tibet/Nepal. First alpine style ascent with Martin Zabaleta (Spain/Basque). April 8, 1989. 1990 Northeast Ridge, Dhaulagiri, Himalaya, Nepal. Summit reached with Nuru Sherpa (Nepal) and Dainius Makauskas (Lithuania), October 31, 1990. Makauskas disappeared on the descent. Buhler and Nuru Sherpa suffered severe frostbite. 1992 West Ridge, Dorje Lhakpa or Dorje Lakpa, Jugal Himal, Himalaya, Nepal. First solo ascent. April 12–13, 1992. 1996 West Ridge, Mount Miller, Saint Elias Mountains, Alaska USA. First ascent with Charles Sassara, Paul Claus (both America), Ruedi Homberger, Reto Ruesh (both Switzerland), April 12, 1996. 1996 North Ridge, K2, Karakoram, China/Pakistan. Russian American ascent. Summit reached with Sergei Penzov and Igor Benkin (both Russia), August 14, 1996. Benkin died on the descent. 1997 East Buttress, University Peak, Wrangell Mountains, Alaska USA. New route with Charles Sassara (America), April 29-May 5, 1997. 1997 Diamir Face, Nanga Parbat, Himalaya, Pakistan. First Russian and second American Ascent. Summit reached with Ivan Dusharin (Russia), July 14, 1997. Viktor Kolishnichenko and Andrei Volkov (both Russia) reached the summit on July 18, 1997. 1998 The Lightning Route (VII 5.9 A4 WI4, 1580m), North Face of Changabang, Garhwal Himalaya, India. New route with Andrei Volkov, Andrei Mariev, Ivan Dusharin and Pavel Shabalin (all Russia). April 16 - June 6, 1998. 1998 North Face, Peak Babuchka ca. (5220 meters), West Face, Peak Carnovsky ca. 4700 meters, Kakshaal Too (West Kokshal Tau), Central Tian-Shan, Kyrgyzstan, New routes with (Babuchka) Mark Price and Christian Beckwith (both America), July 7-8 and (Carnovsky) Mark Price, July 26-27, 1998. 1999 West Face, Siula Grande, (6344 meters), Cordillera Huayhuash, Andes, Peru. New route Avoiding the Touch with Mark Price (America), June 16, 1999. 1999 East Face Milarepa, 6262 meters, Rolwaling Himal, Himalaya, Nepal. First ascent with Mark Price (America), October 11-13, 1999. 2000 Northwest Face, Kampur (5499 meters), Ishkoman Valley, Hindu Raj, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, First Ascent with Ivan Dusharin (Russia), August 4-5, 2000.