Author
» The mountains have turned him in a poet and philosopher «
- Die Zeit, Germany
With an early passion for literature and trained not just to perform extreme action but also to reflect upon it, Thomas started writing articles about his early solo climbs when he was 15. However, for years special-interest magazines refused to publish them, arguing that he was “a negative example of youth-solo climbing”…
Thomas has now written seven books. His last one was published in 2012 for the Chinese market.
The Solo Climber
He wrote his first book at 21, “The solo climber”. It describes his evolution to the most successful solo climber of his time and immediately became a bestseller.
» Not since I have read Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has a book moved me like Mount Fitz Roy – The Quality of the Next Step «
- A literary critic in Germany
Time and the Vertical
His most successful, and, in his own view, best book to date, is “Time and the Vertical”. Based on his own experiences it describes in metaphorical terms and analogies to classical Greek philosophy the age-old rise and fall of the hero.
It remains one of the most successful adventure-books in Germany.
Bubendorfer’s life is full of wisdom and philosophy”
In 2012, he wrote a book published only in China. Thomas draws parallels between Chinese philosophy and his Western approach to what he calls intelligent performance. It also became a bestseller both in hardcover and paperback editions.
Work in progress - “The Conquest of the Invisible”
Thomas is presently working on his first book in English. It starts with his near-lethal accident in 2017 and analyzes what has moved him towards mountains at the age of 12 and how he has found motivation for a life-long search for intelligent peak performance. Some project! To Thomas it is the most daunting endeavor he has ever engaged in. As so many times in the mountains of the world, he finds himself constantly challenged by the “impossible”.
