Zuzana Hofmannová

Zuzana Hofmannová, née Charvátová (June 15, 1959 – July 31, 2012, Broad Peak, Pakistan) was a Czech mountaineer, alpinist, and rock climber. She summitted four eight-thousanders: Shishapangma, Cho Oyu, Manaslu, and Broad Peak, becoming the first Czech woman on top of Shishapangma, Manaslu and Broad Peak.

Climbing career
Hofmannová first encountered mountain climbing from a television documentary about Nanga Parbat when she was 15. She would go on to become one of the top Czech mountaineers of her generation and ranked among the top European alpine climbers in the 1980s. She first started rock climbing in Labské Údolí, in the Elbe Valley, against her parents' permission. She soon gained attention for her climbing in 1982 when she made the first female free ascent and also the first winter ascent of Piz Badile alongside Alenou Stehlíkovou, via the Direttissima Isherwood-Kosterlitz route. By 1988 she had made over 100 ascents across different routes in the High Tatras.

In 1984 she made her first Himalayan climb with an ascent attempt at Dhaulagiri, reaching 7,900m. In 1985, she was part of the first ascent by an all female team on the north face of Huascarán in the Peruvian Andes, alongside Blanka Nedvědická, Ewa Szoresniak, Ewa Pankiewicz, and Amalia Kaploniak. She returned to Huascarán in 1998, becoming the first woman to summit via the North Face twice.

In 2003 she appeared as herself in Ceské himalájské dobrodruzstvía, a Czech documentary series on the Himalayas. Over the next years she focused on climbing in the Himalayas, and would become the first Czech woman atop Shishapangma (2004) and Manaslu (2006). In 2009, she successfully summitted her third eight-thousander, Cho Oyo.

On July 31, 2012, at age 53, Hofmannová became the first Czech woman to summit Broad Peak, her fourth summit over 8,000m. She summited solo, and died on the descent, possibly due to an avalanche.

Notable climbs

 * 1980 – First winter ascent of Monte Civetta, via the Messner Route
 * 1982 – First female ascent and first winter ascent of the Isherwood-Kosterlitz Direttissima route, on Piz Badile
 * 1984 – Czechoslovak expedition to Dhaulágirí (8 167 m)
 * 1985 – All female expedition, summit via North Face of Huascarán
 * 1988 – Expedition to Annapurna
 * 1998 – North face of Huascarán, becoming the first female climber to summit this route twice
 * 2000 – Pamir, Pik Lenina (7 134 m)
 * 2002 – Ťan-šan (7 439 m), Chan Tengri (6 995 m)
 * 2003 – Pamir, Peak Ozodi (7 105 m), Qullai Ismoili Somoni (7 495 m)
 * 2004 – Shishapangma(8 027 m)
 * 2006 – Manaslu (8 163 m) via the North East Japanese route, the first ascent by a Czech woman
 * 2007 – Expedition to Gasherbrum I
 * 2009 – Classic route, Cho Oyo (8 201 m)
 * 2011 – Spantik (7 027 m)
 * 2012 – Broad Peak (8 051 m)