Obituaries
CVHS Alum, Son Killed By an Avalanche
Marty Schmidt and his son, Denali, were aiming to be the first father-son team to climb one of the world's most difficult mountains to climb.
Marty Schmidt, a mountaineer and Castro Valley High School alum ’78, and his son, Denali were killed by an avalanche on K2 — the highest point in the Karakoram Range and the second highest peak in the world.
Sequoia Di Angelo, daughter and sister of the father-son team, announced their deaths on Twitter on Tuesday, July 30: “It is with great sorrow that I confirm the tragic death of my brother and father, Denali and Marty Schmidt. May their spirits rest at K2. RIP”, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Schmidt lived in Christchurch, New Zealand and he was working as an Everest guide for a firm called Peak Freaks.
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The New Zealand mountaineering community is grieving over the lost of these two mountain climbers.
In New Zealand’s Stuff news website, New Zealand Alpine Club member, Sam Newton says, “He [Schmidt] was really just a prolific successful high-altitude climber.”
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“His loss is a huge tragedy for the New Zealand climbing community”.
K2 was first conquered in 1954, with only 280 people being able to successfully climb it — and around one death for every three successful climbs.
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