One year after Laila Peak accident: quiet remembrance for biathlon star Laura Dahlmeier
Family marks the anniversary privately as a park in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, named after the two-time Olympic champion, becomes a place of pilgrimage.
A quiet anniversary
One year after Laura Dahlmeier's death on Laila Peak, the public commotion has subsided. Her family is marking 28 July 2026 in private. "The family is keeping quiet. We are glad that the hype has died down, that a bit of peace has returned. We are tired," her father Andreas Dahlmeier told dpa. No public memorial is planned; the day will be a family matter.
- Laura Dahlmeier dies in rockfall on Laila Peak at 5,700 m
- Park in Garmisch-Partenkirchen officially named Laura-Dahlmeier-Park
- Family marks first anniversary privately, no public event
The fatal accident in the Karakoram
On 28 July 2025, Dahlmeier, 31, was descending the 6,100-metre Laila Peak in Pakistan's Karakoram range with a rope partner. At around 5,700 metres, while rappelling, she was hit by rockfall. The two women had turned back before the summit because of difficult conditions. Dahlmeier, a fully trained mountain guide and member of the mountain rescue service, is believed to have died instantly. Rescue and later recovery efforts, which involved her friend, extreme climber Thomas Huber, were unsuccessful. Her body remains on the mountain. Pakistani porter Baqir Ali, who took part in the recovery, still thinks of her.
It was one of the rescue operations in my life that remained unsuccessful. Even now I sometimes think of her and a shiver runs down my spine.
A park becomes a place of pilgrimage
In February 2026, the park beside the Skiclub Partenkirchen in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where Dahlmeier began her sporting career, was officially named Laura-Dahlmeier-Park. A photo and a plaque on a rock from the nearby Ferchenbach, chosen by her mother Susi Dahlmeier, now mark the site. At the dedication, hundreds of candles formed a symbolic cross-country ski trail in the snow. Since then, fresh flowers and candles have appeared continuously. "It has become a real place of pilgrimage," Andreas Dahlmeier said. During a heatwave, the many candles caused a small fire, but no damage was done.
Acceptance of a distant resting place
Dahlmeier's parents have made peace with the fact that their daughter's body will never be brought home. "I believe that is the most beautiful cemetery for Laura. Merged with the heart of the mountains," her father said. The family draws comfort from the quiet remembrance at the park and the fading of public attention. In Pakistan, where tourists die in the mountains every year (a Czech climber died in early July), Dahlmeier's accident is one of many, but for those involved it remains a personal memory.
A champion's sporting legacy
Dahlmeier was one of Germany's most successful winter athletes. She won two Olympic gold medals and seven world championship titles in biathlon. At the 2017 World Championships in Hochfilzen, Austria, she ignored medical advice to skip the final race and went on to win her fifth gold of the championships, an experience that strengthened her trust in her own body and judgment. After retiring from competition in 2019, she worked as a TV expert for ZDF and devoted more time to her passion for mountaineering. Her death at 31 cut short a life that had already left a deep mark on her sport.
