Born in Vienna, Blodig spent his early years in Graz, climbing Mount Triglav while still in his teens. At the age of twenty he climbed Monte Rosa, guided by Christian Ranggetiner, and by twenty-three he had made non-guided ascents of the Dufourspitze, Zumsteinspitze, and Weisshorn. Between 1890 and 1911 he succeeded in climbing the remaining peaks to achieve all those summits that were at that time listed as being over 4,000 m in height. These achievements included first ascents of the Brouillard Ridge on Mont Blanc as well as the first traverse of the Rochefort Ridge. Among his alpine climbing partners were Ludwig Purtscheller and the Alpine artist Edward Theodore Compton.: