Reinhold Messner biography
Reinhold Messner, (born September 17, 1944, Bressanone [Brixon], Italy), mountain climber and polar trekker who was famend for his pioneering and tough ascents of the world’s highest peaks. In 1978 he and Austrian Peter Habeler had been the primary to climb Mount Everest (29,035 toes [8,850 metres]; see Researcher’s Note: Height of Mount Everest), the best mountain on the earth, with out using contained oxygen for respiratory, and two years later he accomplished the primary solo ascent of Everest, additionally with out supplemental oxygen. He was the primary particular person to climb all 14 of the world’s mountains that exceed an elevation of 26,250 toes (8,000 metres).
Messner was raised in a German-speaking area of the Dolomites within the Alps of northern Italy. His father launched him to mountaineering, and from the age of 13 he made quite a few tough climbs, first on mountains within the Eastern Alps and afterward different Alpine peaks. During the Sixties Messner turned one of many earliest and strongest proponents of what got here to be known as the “Alpine” type of mountaineering, which advocates using minimal quantities of light-weight gear and little or no exterior help (e.g., the Sherpa porters sometimes employed within the Himalayas). He was joined on this philosophy by his youthful brother Günther and by Habeler, whom Messner met on an expedition to the Peruvian Andes in 1969.
He made his first journey to the Himalayas in 1970, when he and Günther scaled Nanga Parbat (26,660 toes [8,126 metres]) and had been the primary to ascend by the use of its Rupal (south) face; his brother died in the course of the descent, and Reinhold barely survived the ordeal, shedding a number of toes to frostbite. In 1975 Messner and Habeler made their first Alpine-style ascent of an 8,000-metre mountain with out supplemental oxygen once they climbed the northwestern face of Gasherbrum I (Hidden Peak; 26,470 toes [8,068 metres]) within the Karakoram Range.
For their historic oxygen-free climb of Mount Everest in 1978, Messner and Habeler accompanied a big German-Austrian standard (i.e., Sherpa-supported) expedition to the mountain. Setting out on their very own from about 26,200 toes (7,985 metres) on the morning of May 8, the 2 reached the summit within the early afternoon. Habeler, fearing the results of oxygen deprivation, descended rapidly, with Messner following extra slowly. Messner recounted the journey in Everest: Expedition zum Endpunkt (1978; Everest: Expedition to the Ultimate).
Messner’s landmark solo ascent of Everest in 1980 was equally outstanding. After three days of exhausting climbing on the north aspect of the mountain (which included a fall right into a crevasse), on August 20 he stood on the summit. As he described it later,Messner continued tackling lofty peaks, normally by untried routes. In 1978 he had once more climbed Nanga Parbat, reaching the summit alone by a brand new route, and in 1979 he had led a crew of six to the highest of K2 (28,251 toes [8,611 metres]), the world’s second highest mountain. In 1983 he led a celebration on a notable ascent of Cho Oyu (26,906 toes [8,201 metres]) utilizing a brand new method, the southwest face, and the next yr made the primary traverse between two 8,000-metre peaks: Gasherbrum I and II. By 1986 he had climbed all the world’s 8,000-metre mountains, a lot of them twice.
In 1989–90 Messner and German Arved Fuchs turned the primary individuals to traverse Antarctica through the South Pole by foot with out both animals or machines. Their journey, which lined some 1,740 miles (2,800 km), was completed in 92 days. Another notable journey was Messner’s 1,250-mile (2,000-km) solo trek throughout the Gobi (desert) in Mongolia in 2004. He additionally established a collection of mountain-themed museums within the Alps of northern Italy, starting with one close to Bolzano in 2006. Messner served one time period (1999–2004) within the European Parliament, the place he primarily championed environmental points.
Messner was the writer of a number of dozen books in German, a number of of which had been translated into English. Notable amongst these are his autobiography, Die Freiheit, aufzubrechen, wohin ich will: ein Bergsteigerleben (1989; Free Spirit: A Climber’s Life); Antarktis: Himmel und Hölle zugleich (1990; Antarctica: Both Heaven and Hell), describing his trek throughout Antarctica; and Der nackte Berg (2002; The Naked Mountain), about his fateful climb of Nanga Parbat in 1970.