Career
Blodig was the first to successfully climb all Alpine peaks of over 4000 meters, completing his final summit around 1911. He wrote about these climbs in his book Die Viertausender der Alpen (The Four-Thousanders of the Alps), first published in 1923. Mountaineering Born in Vienna, Blodig was spent his early years in Graz, climbing the Triglav whilst still in his teens.
At the age of twenty he climbed the Monte Rosa, guided by Christian Ranggetiner, and by twenty three had made non-guided ascents of the Dufourspitze, Zumsteinspitze and Weisshorn.
Around 1911 Blodig was part of a regular mountaineering meeting at Pen-y-Pass in Wales amongst whom was George Mallory. Blodig observed Mallory expertly tackling a crux pitch of a very difficult ice chimney.
Even though all the climbing friends present were impressed by Mallory"s skill as a climber, Blodig later observed rather prophetically about Mallory that: "that young man will not be alive for long!".