In 1974, a handful of young Austrians ventured on an expedition to the Karakoram. It was their first such adventure and aimed at achieving the first ascent of a 7500 metre mountain. For the expedition members, which included the festival’s founder, Robert Schauer, it was a springboard towards scaling the world’s highest, most impressive and inhospitable peaks – their first steps on route to the eight-thousanders. Also among the team were the expedition leader Alois Furtner, Georg “Joe” Bachler, Matthias “Hias” Schreder, Sepp Portenkirchner and Hilmar Sturm.