Reinhold Messner

 Reinhold Messner

Who is the greatest climber / mountaineer of all time? This is a difficult question to be answer and certainly causes controversy among climbers but a name will always be remembered: Reinhold Messner.

Messner in Himalayas (1970)

Reinhold Messner was born in northern Italy in the town of Brixen (Bressanone) in a region known as South Tyrol on 17 September 1944. Messner began climbing at 13 years along with his brother Gunther Messner. The first climbing mountains they were clibing in the region of Dolimitas, Italy. At age 20 he had already climbed the most hard climbing routes in the Dolomites and Alps, all these climbs were made with his brother or alone. Messner has created a unique style to climb, always with lightweight (Alpine Style).

In 1970, Reinhold Messner and Gunther went to the Himalayas to climb the highest mountains in the world. The first mountain they tried to climb was Nanga Parba (Pakistan) opened a new route for the harder side of the mountain (Rupal face). It was in this first trip to the Himalayas that his brother died after being hit by an avalanche while descending from the summit. 

Even after the death of his brother, Messner kept climbing. In 1974 he climbed the dreaded southern phase of Aconcagua (the highest mountain in the Americas). In 1978, was the first human to climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, without supplemental oxygen in 1980 he climbed the Mount Everest alone (It was the first time who someone tried that). In 1986, he climbed Mount Lhotse, the first man to climb all fourteen mountains over 8.000 meters.

 

Because of that way to climb with a lot of bravery and unique style and because of its historic achievements, Messner is considered by many as the greatest climber / mountaineer of all time.

 

Reinhold Messner