About Hannelore Schmatz
Hannelore Schmatz (née Ledermann; 14 February 1940 – 2 October 1979) was a German mountaineer and the fourth woman to summit Mount Everest. She collapsed and died as she was returning from summiting Everest via the southern route; Schmatz was the first woman and first German citizen to die on the upper slopes of Everest. == Biography == In 1962, Schmatz married her husband, Gerhard Schmatz, who was the first European to climb all Seven Summits. The pair lived in Neu-Ulm, where Gerhard ran a notary office. Her husband introduced Schmatz to mountaineering and together, they climbed Manaslu in May 1973, Tirich Mir in July 1975, and Lhotse in June 1977. Between 1973 and 1976, the couple made it an annual tradition to scale one of the highest mountains. With the ascent of Tirich Mir, Schmatz was the first German woman to climb a seventhousander mountain. === Death === Schmatz was on an expedition via the South East Ridge route with her husband Gerhard Schmatz, who was the expedition leader and the oldest man to summit Everest at the time at age 50. Hannelore Schmatz initially didn't plan to go to the summit, but decided to do so shortly after her husband began making his way down the day before. On the same expedition was the American Ray Genet, who also died while descending from the summit.
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