Star alpinist Reinhold Messner

From Wikipedia:

Reinhold Andreas Messner (* September 17, 1944) is an Italian mountaineer of Austrian nationality, traveler and writer. Among other things, he is the first climber to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, the first to climb Mount Everest without the use of an oxygen device, and the first to make a complete solo ascent of Mount Everest.

In addition to climbing peaks, he is also known for his hiking expeditions - he has walked across Antarctica, Greenland and the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts. He tried unsuccessfully to cross the Arctic from Siberia to Canada.

He is the author of many dozens of books.

Messner was born within a German-speaking family settled near Brixen in South Tirol, which is part of Northern Italy. Messner was the second of nine children 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. Already as a small schoolboy he dreamed of a career as a mountaineer.

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.

Beginnings:

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.

Ascents in Himalayas:

Mount Everest

                                         Mount Everest north face.

On 8 May 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler reached the summit of Mount Everest, becoming the first men known to climb it without the use of supplemental oxygen. Before this ascent, it was disputed whether this was possible at all.

Messner climbed not only in Himalayas. The list of his succesful ascents in other Asian mountain ranges or on other continents is very long.

Messner is listed nine times in the Guiness Book of Records. All of his achievements are classed as "World's Firsts" (or "Historical Firsts"). A "World's First" is the highest category of any Guinness World Record, meaning the ownership of the title never expires.

Here is the list:

• First ascent of Manaslu without supplementary oxygen
• First solo summit of Everest
• First ascent of Everest and K2 without supplementary oxygen – male
• First ascent of the top three highest mountains without supplementary oxygen – male
• First 8,000-metre mountain hat-trick
• First person to climb all 8,000-metre mountains without supplementary oxygen
• First person to climb all 8,000-metre mountains
• First ascent of Everest without supplementary oxygen
• First ascent of Gasherbrum I without supplementary oxygen

Climbing is not the only activity of Reinhold Messner. In 2006 he opened Messner Mountain Museum which is situated in several locations.

In the years 1999 to 2004 he was also member of the European Parliament.

                                                               Here an interview with Reinhold Messner in English

"I've been hiking in the mountains since I was a kid and now it's too late to stop"

Messner is known as a legend among alpinists but in 2017 also in the context of sports in general. Reinhold Messner was named a "legend of sport" at the 36th Sports Journalists' Ball in Frankfurt am Main.

https://reinhold-messner.de/             More about him on his page in German.

   R.Messner in 2002

Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery.     

                                                                                              John Ruskin

Thanks for reading 

                                        Margaret