Reinhold Andreas Messner (; born 17 September 1944) is an Italian climber, explorer, and author from the German-speaking province of South Tyrol. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, along with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplementary oxygen. He was the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders, doing so without supplementary oxygen. Messner was the first to cross Antarctica and Greenland with neither snowmobiles nor dog sleds and also crossed the Gobi Desert alone. He is widely considered to be the greatest high-altitude mountaineer 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 2010, he received the 2nd Piolet d'Or Lifetime Achievement Award. 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 to a German-speaking family in St. Peter, Villnöß, near Brixen in South Tyrol, which is part of Italy. According to his sister, his delivery was difficult as he was a large baby and the birth took place during an air raid. His mother Maria (1915–1997) was the daughter of a shop owner and was 2 years older than her husband, whilst his father Josef (1917–1985) was drafted to serve the Wehrmacht 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-born child out of nine children; eight sons and a daughter namely Helmut (born 1942), Günther (1946–1970), Erich (born 1948), Waltraud (born 1950), Siegfried (1952–1985), Hubert (born 1954), Hansjörg (born 1956) and Werner (born 1958), all 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 (which he dubbed "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 Agnèr and the first winter ascents of the Agnèr 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: Year Peak Remarks 1970 Nanga Parbat () First ascent of the unclimbed Rupal Face and first traverse of the mountain by descending along the unexplored Diamir Face with his brother Günther. Prior to this ascent, Messner had not previously visited the Greater Ranges and the greatest altitude he had been to was on the expedition to the Andes in 1969. 1972 Manaslu () First ascent of the unclimbed South-West Face and first ascent of Manaslu without supplemental oxygen. 1975 Gasherbrum I () First ascent without supplemental oxygen with Peter Habeler. 1978 Mount Everest (), Nanga Parbat () First ascent of Everest without supplementary oxygen (with Peter Habeler).Nanga Parbat: first solo ascent of an eight-thousander from base camp. He established a new route on the Diamir Face, which has since then never been repeated. 1979 K2 () Ascent partially in alpine style with Michael Dacher on the Abruzzi Spur. 1980 Mount Everest () First to ascend alone and without supplementary oxygen – from base camp to summit – during the monsoon. He established a new route on the North Face. 1981 Shishapangma () Ascent with Friedl Mutschlechner. 1982 Kangchenjunga (), Gasherbrum II (), Broad Peak () New route on Kangchenjunga's North Face, partially in alpine style with Friedl Mutschlechner.Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak: Both ascents with Sher Khan and Nazir Sabir.Messner becomes the first person to climb three 8000er in one season.Also a failed summit attempt on Cho Oyu during winter. 1983 Cho Oyu () Ascent with Hans Kammerlander and Michael Dacher on a partially new route. 1984 Gasherbrum I (), Gasherbrum II () First traverse of two eight-thousanders without returning to base camp (with Hans Kammerlander). 1985 Annapurna (), Dhaulagiri () First ascent of Annapurna's unclimbed North-West Face.Both ascents with Hans Kammerlander. 1986 Makalu (), Lhotse () Makalu: Ascent with Hans Kammerlander and Friedl Mutschlechner, Lhotse: Ascent with Hans Kammerlander.Messner becomes the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders.

Other expeditions since 1970

1971 – Journeys to the mountains of Iran, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan and East Africa; 1972 – Noshaq () 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 – Denali (), "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? 1987 – Bhutan trip; Pamir trip; 1988 – Yeti-Tibet solo expedition; 1989–1990 – Antarctic crossing (over the South Pole) on foot, trek with Arved Fuchs; 1991 – Bhutan crossing (east-west); "Around South Tyrol" as a positioning exercise, where he was peripherally involved in the Ötzi find, being among the groups who inspected the mummy on-site the day after its initial discovery; 1992 – Ascent of Chimborazo (); crossing of Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang; 1993 – Trip to Dolpo, Mustang and Manang in Nepal; Greenland longitudinal crossing (diagonal) on foot, trek; 1994 – Cleaning project in North India/Gangotri, Shivling region (); to Ruwenzori (), Uganda; 1995 – Arctic crossing (Siberia to Canada) failed; trip to Belukha (), Altai Mountains/Siberia; 1996 – Trip through East Tibet and to Kailash. 1997 – Trip to Kham (East Tibet); small expedition into Karakoram; filming on the Ol Doinyo Lengai (holy mountain of the Maasai) in Tanzania 1998  – Trip to the Altai Mountains (Mongolia) and to Puna de Atacama (Andes) 1999 – Filming: San Francisco Peaks, Arizona (Holy mountain of Navajo); trip into the Thar Desert/India 2000 – Crossing of South Georgia on the Shackleton Route; Nanga Parbat Expedition; filming on Mount Fuji/Japan for the ZDF series Wohnungen der Götter (~"Homes of the Gods") 2001  – Dharamsala and foothills of the Himalayas/India; ZDF series Wohnungen der Götter on Gunung Agung/Bali 2002 – In the "International Year of the Mountains" visit by mountaineers into the Andes and ascent of Cotopaxi (), Ecuador 2003 – Trekking to Mount Everest (fiftieth anniversary of the first successful climb); trip to Franz Joseph Land/Arctic; on 1 October opening of the "Günther Mountain School" in the Diamir Valley on Nanga Parbat/Pakistan 2004 – Longitudinal crossing of the Gobi Desert (Mongolia) on foot, about trek 2005 – Trip to the Dyva Nomads in Mongolia; "time journey" around Nanga Parbat/Pakistan

Climbs Nanga Parbat Reinhold Messner took a total of five expeditions to Nanga Parbat. In 1970 and 1978 he reached the summit (in 1978 solo); in 1971, 1973 and 1977, he did not. In 1971 he was primarily looking for his brother's remains.

Rupal Face 1970