Reinhold Messner

Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian mountaineer, explorer, and author from South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplemental oxygen. He was the first climber to ascend all fourteen peaks over above sea level without oxygen. Messner was the first to cross Antarctica and Greenland with neither snowmobiles nor dog sleds. He also crossed the Gobi Desert alone. He is widely considered one of the greatest mountaineers of all time.

From 1999 to 2004, Messner served as a member of the European Parliament for north-east Italy, as a member of the Federation of the Greens.

Messner has published more than 80 books about his experiences as a climber and explorer. In 2018, he received jointly with Krzysztof Wielicki the Princess of Asturias Award in the category of Sports.

Early life and education

Messner was born within a German-speaking family settled in St. Peter, Villnöß, near Brixen in South Tyrol, which is part of Northern Italy. According to his sister his delivery was difficult as he was a large baby and birth took place during an air raid. His mother Maria (1913–1995) was the daughter of a shop owner and 4 years older than her husband. His father Josef (1917–1985) was drafted to serve the German army and participated in World War II on the Russian front. After the war he was an auxiliary teacher until 1957, when he became the director of the local school.
Messner was the second of nine children – Helmut (born 1943), Günther (1946–1970), Erich (born 1948), Waltraud (born 1949), Siegfried (1950–1985), Hubert (born 1953), Hansjörg (born 1955) and Werner (born 1957) and grew up in modest means.

Messner spent his early years climbing in the Alps and falling in love with the Dolomites.
His father was strict and sometimes severe with him. He led Reinhold to his first summit at the age of five.

When Messner was 13, he began climbing with his brother Günther, age 11. By the time Reinhold and Günther were in their early twenties, they were among Europe's best climbers.

Since the 1960s, Messner, inspired by Hermann Buhl, was one of the first and most enthusiastic supporters of alpine style mountaineering in the Himalayas, which consisted of climbing with very light equipment and a minimum of external help. Messner considered the usual expedition style ("siege tactics") disrespectful toward nature and mountains.

Career

Before his first major Himalayan climb in 1970, Messner had made a name for himself mainly through his achievements in the Alps. Between 1960 and 1964, he led over 500 ascents, most of them in the Dolomites. In 1965, he climbed a new direttissima route on the north face of the Ortler. A year later, he climbed the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses and ascended the Rocchetta Alta di Bosconero. In 1967, he made the first ascent of the northeast face of the Agnér and the first winter ascents of the Agnér north face and Furchetta north face.

In 1968, he achieved further firsts: the Heiligkreuzkofel middle pillar and the direct south face of the Marmolada. In 1969, Messner joined an Andes expedition, during which he succeeded, together with Peter Habeler, in making the first ascent of the Yerupaja east face up to the summit ridge and, a few days later, the first ascent of the Yerupaja Chico. He also made the first solo ascent of the Droites north face, the Philipp-Flamm intersection on the Civetta and the south face of Marmolada di Rocca. As a result, Messner won the reputation of being one of the best climbers in Europe.

In 1970, Messner was invited to join a major Himalayan expedition that was going to attempt the unclimbed Rupal face of Nanga Parbat. The expedition, which was the major turning point in his life, turned out to be a tragic success. Both he and his brother Günther reached the summit but Günther died two days later on the descent of the Diamir face. Reinhold lost seven toes, which had become badly frostbitten during the climb and required amputation. Reinhold was severely criticized for persisting on this climb with the less experienced Günther. The 2010 movie '' Nanga Parbat'' by Joseph Vilsmaier is based on his account of the events.

While Messner and Peter Habeler were noted for fast ascents in the Alps of the Eiger North Wall, standard route (10 hours) and Les Droites (8 hours), his 1975 Gasherbrum I first ascent of a new route took three days. This was unheard of at the time.

In the 1970s, Messner championed the cause for ascending Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen, saying that he would do it "by fair means" or not at all. In 1978, he reached the summit of Everest with Habeler. This was the first time anyone had been that high without supplemental oxygen and Messner and Habeler achieved what certain doctors, specialists, and mountaineers thought impossible. He repeated the feat, without Habeler, from the Tibetan side in 1980, during the monsoon season. This was Everest's first solo summit.

In 1978, he made a solo ascent of the Diamir face of Nanga Parbat. In 1986, Messner became the first to complete all fourteen eight-thousanders (peaks over 8,000 metres above sea level).

Messner has crossed Antarctica on skis, together with fellow explorer Arved Fuchs.
He has written over 80 books about his experiences, a quarter of which have been translated. He was featured in the 1984 film '' The Dark Glow of the Mountains'' by Werner Herzog.
From 1999 to 2004, he held political office as a Member of the European Parliament for the Italian Green Party ( Federazione dei Verdi). He was also among the founders of Mountain Wilderness, an international NGO dedicated to the protection of mountains worldwide.

In 2004 he completed a expedition through the Gobi desert.
In 2006, he founded the Messner Mountain Museum.

Expeditions

Ascents above 8,000m

Messner was the first person to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders in the world and without supplemental oxygen. His climbs were also all amongst the first 20 ascents for each mountain individually. Specifically, these are:

Other expeditions since 1970

* 1971 – Journeys to the mountains of Persia, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan and East Africa;
* 1972 – Noshak () in the Hindu Kush;
* 1973 – Marmolada West Pillar, first climb; Furchetta West Face, first climb;
* 1974 – Aconcagua south wall (), partially new "South Tyrol Route"; Eiger North Face with Peter Habeler in 10 hours (a record that stood for 34 years, for a roped party);
* 1976 – Mount McKinley (), "Face of the Midnight Sun", first climb;
* 1978 – Kilimanjaro (), "Breach Wall", first climb;
* 1979 – Ama Dablam rescue attempt; first climbs in the Hoggar Mountains, Africa;
* 1981 – Chamlang () Centre Summit-North Face, first climb;
* 1984 – Double- Traverse of Gasherbrum II and I with Hans Kammerlander;
* 1985 – Tibet Transversale with Kailash exploration;
* 1986 – Crossing of East Tibet; Mount Vinson (, Antarctic), on 3 December 1986, thus becoming the first person to complete Seven Summits without the use of supplemental oxygen on Mount Everest;History of 7 Summits project – who was first?
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* 1987 – Bhutan trip; Pamir trip;
* 1988 – Yeti

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