Nanga Parbat
ننگا پربت
Nanga Parbat from Fairy Meadows in Pakistan
Elevation	8,126 m (26,660 ft) Ranked 9th
Prominence	4,608 m (15,118 ft) Ranked 14th
Listing	Eight-thousander Ultra
Location
Nanga Parbat Location in Northern Areas, Pakistan[1]
Location	Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan[1]
Range	Himalayas
Coordinates	35°14′15″N 74°35′21″E / 35.2375°N 74.58917°E / 35.2375; 74.58917Coordinates: 35°14′15″N 74°35′21″E / 35.2375°N 74.58917°E / 35.2375; 74.58917
Climbing
First ascent	July 3, 1953 by Hermann Buhl
Easiest route	Diamir (West Face)

Nanga Parbat (literally, Naked Mountain), Urdu: ننگا پربت [nəŋɡaː pərbət̪]) is the ninth highest mountain on Earth. Located in Pakistan, Nanga Parbat is one of the eight-thousanders, with a summit elevation of 8,126 meters (26,660 ft). Nanga Parbat translates to "Naked Mountain" in English; parbat deriving from the Sanskrit word parvata (पर्वत) meaning "mountain, rock", and nanga from the Sanskrit nagna (नग्न) meaning "naked".^[2] Known as the "Killer Mountain", Nanga Parbat was one of the deadliest of the eight-thousanders for climbers in the first half of the twentieth century; since that time it has been less so, though still an extremely serious climb. It is also an immense, dramatic peak that rises far above its surrounding terrain.

Location[link]

Nanga Parbat forms the western anchor of the Himalayan Range and is the westernmost eight-thousander. It lies just south of the Indus River in the Diamer District of Gilgit–Baltistan in Pakistan.^[1] Not far to the north is the western end of the Karakoram range.

Notable features[link]

Nanga Parbat has tremendous vertical relief over local terrain in all directions.

To the south, Nanga Parbat boasts what is often referred to as the highest mountain face in the world: the Rupal Face rises 4,600 m (15,000 ft) above its base. To the north, the complex, somewhat more gently sloped Rakhiot Flank rises 7,000 m (23,000 ft) from the Indus River valley to the summit in just 25 km (16 mi), one of the 10 greatest elevation gains in so short a distance on Earth.^{[citation needed]}

Nanga Parbat is one of only two peaks on Earth that rank in the top twenty of both the highest mountains in the world, and the most prominent peaks in the world, ranking ninth and fourteenth respectively. The other being Mount Everest, which is first on both lists.

Layout of the mountain[link]

Nanga Parbat Rakhiot Face

The core of Nanga Parbat is a long ridge trending southwest–northeast. The ridge is an enormous bulk of ice and rock. It has three faces, Diamir face, Rakhiot and Rupal. The southwestern portion of this main ridge is known as the Mazeno Wall, and has a number of subsidiary peaks. In the other direction, the main ridge arcs northeast at Rakhiot Peak (7,070 m / 23,196 ft). The south/southeast side of the mountain is dominated by the massive Rupal Face, noted above. The north/northwest side of the mountain, leading to the Indus, is more complex. It is split into the Diamir (west) face and the Rakhiot (north) face by a long ridge. There are a number of subsidiary summits, including North Peak (7,816 m / 25,643 ft) some 3 km north of the main summit. Near the base of the Rupal Face is a beautiful glacial lake called Latbo, above a seasonal shepherds' village of the same name.

Climbing history[link]

Nanga Parbat from Deosai

Early attempts[link]

Climbing attempts started very early on Nanga Parbat. In 1895 Albert F. Mummery led an expedition to the peak, and reached almost 7,000 m (23,000 ft) on the Diamir (West) Face, but Mummery and two Gurkha companions later died reconnoitering the Rakhiot Face.

In the 1930s, Nanga Parbat became the focus of German interest in the Himalaya. The German mountaineers were unable to attempt Mount Everest, as only the British had access to Tibet. Initially German efforts focussed on Kanchenjunga, to which Paul Bauer led two expeditions in 1930 and 1931, but with its long ridges and steep faces Kanchenjunga was more difficult than Everest and neither expedition made much progress. K2 was known to be harder still, and its remoteness meant that even reaching its base would be a major undertaking. Nanga Parbat was therefore the highest mountain accessible to Germans which they seemed to have a chance of climbing.^[3]

Approaching Nanga Parbat Base Camp

The first German expedition to Nanga Parbat was led by Willy Merkl in 1932. It is sometimes referred to as a German-American expedition, as the eight climbers included Rand Herron, an American, and Fritz Wiessner, who would become an American citizen the following year. While the team were all strong climbers, none had Himalayan experience, and poor planning (particularly an inadequate number of porters), coupled with bad weather, prevented the team progressing far beyond the Rakhiot Peak, reached by Peter Aschenbrenner and Herbert Kunigk, but they did establish the feasibility of a route via Rakhiot Peak and the main ridge.^[4]

Merkl led another expedition in 1934, which was better prepared and financed with the full backing of the new Nazi government. Early in the expedition Alfred Drexel died, probably of high altitude pulmonary edema,.^[5] The Tyrolean climbers Peter Aschenbrenner and Erwin Schneider reached an estimated height of (7,895 m / 25,900 ft) on July 6, but were forced to return because of worsening weather. On July 7 they and 14 others were trapped by a ferocious storm at 7,480 m (24,540 ft). During the desperate retreat that followed, three famous German mountaineers, Uli Wieland, Willo Welzenbach and Merkl himself, and six Sherpas died of exhaustion, exposure and altitude sickness, and several more suffered severe frostbite. The last survivor to reach safety, Ang Tsering, did so having spent seven days battling through the storm.^[6] It has been said that the disaster, "for sheer protracted agony, has no parallel in climbing annals."^[7]

In 1937, Karl Wien led another expedition to the mountain, following the same route as Merkl's expeditions had done. Progress was made, but more slowly than before due to heavy snowfall. Some time around the 14th of June seven Germans and nine Sherpas, almost the entire team, were at Camp IV below Rakhiot Peak when it was overwhelmed by an avalanche. All sixteen men died instantly in what remains the worst single disaster to occur on an 8000 m peak.^[8]

The Germans returned in 1938 led by Paul Bauer, but the expedition was plagued by bad weather, and Bauer, mindful of the previous disasters, ordered the party down before the Silver Saddle was reached.^[9] The following year a small four man expedition, including Heinrich Harrer, explored the Diamir Face with the aim of finding an easier route. They concluded that the face was a viable route, but the Second World War intervened and the four men were interned in India.^[10] Harrer's escape and subsequent travels became the subject of his book Seven Years in Tibet.

First ascent[link]

Southwest aspect of the Rupal Face

At 4,100 m (13,450 ft), near the Rakhiot Base Camp

Nanga Parbat was first climbed, via the Rakhiot Flank (East Ridge), on July 3, 1953 by Austrian climber Hermann Buhl,^[11] a member of a German-Austrian team. The expedition was organized by the half-brother of Willy Merkl, Karl Herrligkoffer from Munich, while the expedition leader was Peter Aschenbrenner from Innsbruck, who had participated in the 1932 and 1934 attempts. By the time of this expedition, 31 people had already died on the mountain.^[12] The final push for the summit was dramatic: Buhl continued alone, after his companions had turned back, and arrived at 7 p.m.; the climbing being harder and more time consuming than he had anticipated. His descent was slowed when he lost a crampon. Caught by darkness, he was forced to bivouac standing upright on a narrow ledge, holding a small handhold with one hand. Exhausted, he dozed occasionally, but managed to maintain his balance. He was also very fortunate to have a calm night, so he was not subjected to wind chill. He finally reached his high camp at 7 p.m. the next day, 40 hours after setting out.^[13] The ascent was made without oxygen, and Buhl is the only man to have made the first ascent of an 8000 m peak alone.

Subsequent attempts and ascents[link]

The second ascent of Nanga Parbat was via the Diamir Face, in 1962, by Germans Toni Kinshofer, S. Lِw, and A. Mannhardt. The route is now the "standard route" on the mountain. The Kinshofer route does not ascend the middle of the Diamir Face, which is threatened by avalanches from massive hanging glaciers. Instead it climbs a buttress on the left side of the face.

In 1970 the brothers Günther and Reinhold Messner made the third ascent of the mountain and the first ascent of the Rupal Face. They were unable to descend by their original route, and instead descended by the Diamir Face, making the first traverse of the mountain. Unfortunately Günther was killed in an avalanche on the Diamir Face. (Messner's account of this incident has been disputed. In 2005 Günther's remains were found on the Diamir Face.)

In 1971 Ivan Fiala and Michael Orolin summited Nanga Parbat via Buhl's 1953 route while other expedition members climbed the SE peak (7,600 m / 24,925 ft) above the Silbersattel and the foresummit (7,850 m / 25,760 ft) above the Bazhin Gap.

In 1978 Reinhold Messner returned to the Diamir Face and achieved the first completely solo ascent (i.e. always solo above Base Camp) of an 8,000 m peak.

In 1984 the French climber Lilliane Barrard became the first woman to climb Nanga Parbat, along with her husband Maurice Barrard.

In 1985, Jerzy Kukuczka, Zygmunt Heinrich, Slawomir Lobodzinski (all Polish) and Carlos Carsolio (Mexico) climbed a bold line up the Southeast Pillar (or Polish Spur) on the right-hand side of the Rupal Face, reaching the summit July 13. It was Kukuczka's 9th 8000m summit.^[14]

Also in 1985, a Polish women's team climbed the peak via the 1962 German Diamir Face route. Wanda Rutkiewicz, Krystyna Palmowska and Anna Czerwinska reached the summit on July 15.^[14]

"Modern" superalpinism was brought to Nanga Parbat in 1988 with an unsuccessful attempt or two on the Rupal Face by Barry Blanchard, Mark Twight, Ward Robinson and Kevin Doyle.^[15]

2005 saw a resurgence of lightweight, alpine-style attempts on the Rupal Face:

- In August 2005, Pakistani military helicopters rescued Slovenian mountaineer Tomaž Humar, who was stuck under a narrow ice ledge at 5,900 m (19,400 ft) for six days. It is believed to be one of the few successful rescues carried out at such high altitude.^[16]

- In September 2005, Vince Anderson and Steve House did an extremely lightweight, fast ascent of a new, direct route on the face, earning high praise from the climbing community.^[17]

On the 17th or 18 July 2006, José Antonio Delgado Sucre from Venezuela died a few days after making the summit, where he was caught by bad weather for 6 days and was unable to make his way down. He was the only Venezuelan climber, and one of the few Latin Americans, to have reached the summit of five eight-thousanders.^[18] Part of the expedition and the rescue efforts at base camp were captured on video as José Antonio Delgado Sucre was the subject of a pilot for a mountaineering television series.^[18] Explorart Films, the production company, later developed the project into a feature documentary film called Beyond the Summit, which was scheduled to be released theatrically in South America in January 2008.^[19]

On July 15, 2008, Italian alpinist Karl Unterkircher fell into a crevasse during an attempt to open, with Walter Nones and Simon Kehrer, a new route to the top. Unterkircher died, but Simon Kehrer and Walter Nones were rescued by the Pakistani army.^[20]

On July 12, 2009, after reaching the top of Nanga Parbat, South Korean climber Go Mi-Young fell off a cliff on the descent in bad weather in her race to be the first woman to climb the 14 of the worlds highest peaks (the Eight Thousanders).^[21]

Nanga Parbat has not yet been climbed in winter, as of March 2012.

References in popular culture[link]

Books[link]

In the first chapter of Mistress of Mistresses, by E.R. Eddison, the narrator compares his now deceased compatriot, Lessingham, to Nanga Parbat in a descriptive passage:

"I remember, years later, his describing to me the effect of the sudden view you get of Nanga Parbat from one of those Kashmir valleys; you have been riding for hours among quiet richly wooded scenery, winding up along the side of some kind of gorge, with nothing very big to look at, just lush, leafy, pussy-cat country of steep hillsides and waterfalls; then suddenly you come round a corner where the view opens up the valley, and you are almost struck senseless by the blinding splendour of that vast face of ice-hung precipices and soaring ridges, sixteen thousand feet from top to toe, filling a whole quarter of the heavens at a distance of, I suppose, only a dozen miles. And now, whenever I call to mind my first sight of Lessingham in that little daleside church so many years ago, I think of Nanga Parbat." (Mistress of Mistresses, 1935, p.2-3)

Movies[link]

Nanga Parbat (2010) A movie by Joseph Vilsmaier about the tragic expedition by the two Messner brothers in 1970, on which Reinhold Messner's younger brother Günther died.^[22]

Nearby peaks[link]

• Rakhiot Peak
• Chongra Peak
• Mazeno Peak
• Rupal Peak
• Laila Peak (Rupal Valley)
• Shaigiri

See also[link]

• Highest Mountains of the World
• Rupal Valley
• Astore Valley
• Hassan sadpara

Notes[link]

Sources[link]

• Herrligkoffer, Karl M., Nanga Parbat. Elek Books, 1954.
• Irving, R. L. G., Ten Great Mountains (London, J. M. Dent & Sons, 1940)
• Ahmed Hasan Dani, Chilas: The City of Nanga Parvat (Dyamar). 1983. ASIN B0000CQDB2
• Alpenvereinskarte "Nanga Parbat", 1:50,000, Deutsche Himalaya Expedition 1934.
• Andy Fanshawe and Stephen Venables, Himalaya Alpine-Style, Hodder and Stoughton, 1995.
• Audrey Salkeld (editor), World Mountaineering, Bulfinch, 1998.
• American Alpine Journal
• Himalayan Index
• DEM files for the Himalaya (Corrected versions of SRTM data)
• Guardian International story on Gunther Messner
• Climbing magazine, April 2006.

Further reading[link]

• Buhl, Herman, Nanga Parbat Pilgrimage, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1956, ISBN 0-340-26498-5
• Messner, Reinhold, Solo Nanga Parbat, London, Kale and Ward, 1980, ISBN 0-7182-1250-9 (Britain), ISBN 0-19-520196-5 (USA)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nanga Parbat

• Nanga Parbat on Peakware
• Nanga Parbat on summitpost.org
• A mountain list ranked by local relief and steepness showing Nanga Parbat as the World #1
• A Quick approach through lovely meadows leads to the base camp of NANGA PARBAT’s enormous RUPAL face

Steve House (August 4, 1970) is an American professional climber and mountain guide from La Grande, Oregon.

Biography[link]

House earned a Bachelor of Science in ecology from The Evergreen State College in 1995.^[1] He has been a fully Union Internationale des Associations de Guides de Montagnes-certified guide since 1999, and is the seventh American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) guide to complete the certification.^[2] House has guided for Exum Mountain Guides, the American Alpine Institute, and North Cascades Mountain Guides. He now guides independently and is based in southwest Colorado, near Ridgway, Colorado. His primary work is as an ambassador for the technical outdoor clothing company, Patagonia, where he works with both marketing and product design, development, and testing. He has been a Patagonia ambassador since 1999.^[3]

He has been called by Reinhold Messner "the best high-altitude climber in the world today."^[4]

On March 25, 2010, while lead climbing on Mount Temple, Steve fell approximately 25 meters. He broke six ribs in multiple places, collapsed his right lung, fractured his pelvis in two places, and fractured several vertebrae in his spine. He is currently recovering from his injuries and training for new climbs.^[5][6]

Alpine climbing[link]

He is vocal in his support of "alpine style" climbs, which involve travelling quickly with little gear, and leaving no gear on the mountain. When, in 2004, the Russian team won the 14th Piolet d'Or for their ascent of the north face of Jannu, he criticized the team for using months to climb the face while setting up fixed ropes, and for leaving 77 ropes behind on the mountain.^[7]

His book Beyond the Mountain was the 2009 winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature.

Notable climbs[link]

• 2000: Slovak Direct, Mount McKinley, Alaska Range, Alaska with Mark Twight and Scott Backes, a fast climb in 60 Hours.^[8]
• 2003 The Talkeetna Standard, Eye Tooth, Alaska Range, Alaska, USA; FA V 5.9 WI5 1000m with Jeff Hollenbaugh^[9]
• 2003 Roberts-Rowell-Ward Route, Mt. Dickey, Alaska Range, Alaska, USA; second ascent VI 5.9 A2 1675m with Jeff Hollenbaugh^[10]
• 2004 Southwest Face, K7, Charakusa Valley, Karakorum, Pakistan (second ascent of the mountain, first ascent of route) (VI 5.10a M6 A2 80 degrees, 2400m), solo. For this ascent he won the People's Award for the 14th Piolet d'Or.^[11]
• 2005 Central Pillar of the Rupal Face, (4100m, M5 X, 5.9, WI4), September 1–8, on Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan with Vince Anderson. Completed in a little over a week (a very short period of time in comparison with many large alpine climbs), the climb won him and Anderson the Piolet d'Or. Steve House's account was published in Alpinist Magazine-Issue 16, in which he describes the ascent as the culmination of "years of a physical and psychological journey."
• 2007 House-Haley (WI5 M7 1750m), Emperor Face, Mount Robson (3956m), Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada. FA of route with Colin Haley, May 25–27, 2007.^[12]
• 2007 K7 West (6858m), Charakusa Valley, Karakorum, Pakistan FA of peak with Vince Anderson and Marko Prezelj.^[13]
• 2008 House-Anderson (WI5+ M8 R/X, 1000m), North Face, Mount Alberta (3619m), Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada. FA of route with Vince Anderson, March 26–28, 2008^[14]

References[link]

External links[link]

• House's ambassador page at Patagonia.com
• House's Bio at North Cascades Mountain Guides
• House's Bio at Grivel
• Interview with House concerning the K7 ascent
• Steve House - climber's profile

Vince Anderson is an American professional mountaineer, writer and mountain guide company manager from Ridgway, Colorado.^[1] He and Steve House won the Piolet d'Or in 2006 for an alpine-style first ascent of the Central Pillar of the Rupal Face, (4100m, M5 X, 5.9, WI4), September 1–8, 2005 on Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan.^[2]

Notable ascents[link]

• 2003 Carte Blanche, White cliffs of Dover, UK, with Yann Bonneville, Manu Ibarra and Jerome Blanc-Gras.^[3]
• 2005 Central Pillar of the Rupal Face, (4100m, M5 X, 5.9, WI4), September 1–8, on Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan with Steve House
• 2007 K7 West (6858m), Charakusa Valley, Karakorum, Pakistan FA of peak with Steve House and Marko Prezelj.^[4]
• 2008 House-Anderson (WI5+ M8 R/X, 1000m), North Face, Mount Alberta (3619m), Canadian Rockies, Alberta, Canada. FA of route with Steve House, March 26–28, 2008^[5]

Publications[link]

Anderson, Vince (January 2, 2008). "Inspirations, Part 1: Vince Anderson". Alpinist (Jackson, WY, USA: Alpinist Magazine) 22. http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web07-08w/wfeature-inspiration-anderson-twight. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2011)

This article has been translated from German into English, from the German version of Wikipedia.

Günther Messner (11 December 1946 – 29 June 1970) was an Italian mountaineer and the younger brother of Reinhold Messner. Günther climbed some of the most difficult routes in the Alps during the 1960s, and joined the Nanga Parbat-Expedition in 1970 just before the beginning of the expedition due to an opening within the team.

Rupal face of Nanga Parbat

Death on Nanga Parbat[link]

Günther set off from an advanced camp to the summit of Nanga Parbat in the morning of the 27th June 1970, following the steps of his brother Reinhold, who had left during the earlier hours of the morning. Günther eventually caught up with Reinhold after having soloed the difficult Merkl couloir. Günther and Reinhold reached the summit together late in the afternoon, when Günther started showing signs of exhaustion, possibly due to the effort he made in trying to catch up with Reinhold earlier in the day. What happened next has been the matter of controversy. According to Reinhold Messner, the two brothers stayed near the summit overnight in an emergency bivouac in the so-called Merkle-notch, since a night descent seemed impossible on the Rupal face due to Günther's exhaustion and altitude sickness. Reinhold Messner was still relatively strong compared to his brother, and decided to attempt a rapid descent down the Diamir flank of the mountain, to get Gunther to lower altitudes as quickly as possible. This multi-day decline brought the two climbers to the limit of their physical and mental strength, and was to end in tragedy when Gunther disappeared at the bottom of the Diamir face, most likely killed by an ice avalanche during the descent. Reinhold Messner, facing exhaustion, severe frostbite and the loss of his brother, continued down along the Diamir valley until he found some local shepherds that helped him.

The expedition members Max von Kienlin and Hans Saler claimed that Reinhold Messner declined the assistance of others when his brother Günther Messner became ill. It has been asserted that Reinhold Messner descended alone on the Diamir side, while Günther Messner descended alone on the Rupal side - resulting in his death. Apparently Reinhold Messner had planned a crossing of the mountain on his own from the beginning. Reinhold alleged in a statement that he had the idea to descend on the Diamir side, and downplayed the severity of the situation in order to prevent the other climbers endangering themselves by rendering assistance.

Controversy[link]

In July 2000, a climber by the name of Hans Peter Eisendle found a human Fibula at the base of the Diamir wall of Nanga Parbat. Due to the decomposition of the original DNA, it could not be determined with certainty whether the bone belonged to Günther Messner. It was possible that the bone could have come from the remains of climbers who perished on the mountain in 1962. However, a subsequent analysis at the University of Innsbruck strongly suggested that the owner of the Fibula was Günther Messner.

On 17 August 2005, more human remains of a mountain climber were found on the Diamir face. Reinhold Messner claims to recognise the shoes and jacket of his brother Günther Messner. On 21 October 2005 scientists at the University of Innsbruck completed a DNA analysis of tissue samples from the remains, and confirmed that the remains were that of Günther Messner. This evidence suggests that Günther Messner was on the west side of the mountain when he was killed, and not on the descent through the Rupal Wall.

Funeral[link]

On 8 September 2005, the remains were burned at the foot of Nanga Parbat on a pyre in Tibetan tradition. The participants sang "yelo Lak, the gods were merciful," and threw rice into the air.

Further reading[link]

• Ralf-Peter Märtin: Nanga Parbat. Truth and delusion of mountaineering. Berlin-Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-8270-0425-X.
• Max von Kienlin: Exceeding. Günther Messner's Death on Nanga Parbat Herbig, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7766-2345-4.
• Reinhold Messner and Others: Diamir. King of the Mountains. Mount Doom Nanga Parbat. Frederking & Thaler, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-89405-708-4.
• Reinhold Messner: The naked mountain. Nanga Parbat - Bruder, death and loneliness. Piper, Munich and Others, 2003, ISBN 3-492-23921-8.
• Reinhold Messner: The white solitude, Piper, Munich and others 2004, ISBN 3-492-24186-7.
• Hans Saler: between light and shadow. The Messner Tragedy on Nanga Parbat. A 1 Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-927743-65-8.
• Jochen Hemmleb: "Nanga Parbat The drama in 1970 and the controversy." Tyrolia, Innsbruck 2010, ISBN 978-3-7022-3064-7
• Death on Nanga Parbat - The Messner Tragedy [Film]. TV documentary by Ludwig Ott (44 min, 2004).
• Nanga Parbat [Film]. Director: Joseph Vilsmaier in collaboration with Reinhold Messner. Releasedate: 14 January 2010. Length: 104 minutes.

See also[link]

• Nanga Parbat
• List of deaths on eight-thousanders

Reinhold Messner
Reinhold Messner in October 2009
Born	(1944-09-17) 17 September 1944 (age 67) Brixen, Italy
Occupation	Mountaineer
Website
www.reinhold-messner.de

Reinhold Messner (born 17 September 1944) is an Italian mountaineer, adventurer and explorer from the German-speaking autonomous province Alto Adige/Südtirol "whose astonishing feats on Everest and on peaks throughout the world have earned him the status of the greatest climber in history."^[1] He is renowned for making the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen and for being the first climber to ascend all fourteen "eight-thousanders" (peaks over 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) above sea level). He is the author of at least 63 books (in German, 1970–2006), many of which have been translated into other languages.

Biography[link]

Born in Brixen (Bressanone), Italy, Messner is a native speaker of German and also fluent in Italian.^[2] He grew up in Villnöß and spent his early years climbing in the Alps and fell in love with the Dolomites. His father, Josef Messner, was a teacher. He was also very strict and sometimes severe with Reinhold. Josef led Reinhold to his first summit at the age of five. Reinhold had eight brothers and one sister: he later climbed with his brother Günther and made Arctic crossings with his brother Hubert.

When Reinhold 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.^[3]

Since the 1960s, and inspired by Hermann Buhl, he 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 towards nature and mountains.

His first major Himalayan climb in 1970, the unclimbed Rupal face of Nanga Parbat, turned out to be a tragic success. Both he and his brother Günther Messner reached the summit, but Günther died two days later on the descent of the Diamir face. Reinhold lost six toes, which had become badly frostbitten during the climb and required amputation.^[3] Reinhold has been severely criticized for persisting on this climb with an insufficiently experienced Günther.^[4] The 2010 movie Nanga Parbat by Joseph Vilsmaier is based on his account of the events.^[5]

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.^[6] In 1978, he reached the summit of Everest with Habeler.^[6] This was the first time anyone had been that high without bottled oxygen and Messner and Habeler proved 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).^[7] Messner has crossed Antarctica on skis, together with fellow explorer Arved Fuchs. He has written over 60 books ^[8] 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.

Messner today carries on a diversified business related to his mountaineering skills. 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 2,000-kilometre (1,200 mi) expedition through the Gobi desert. He now mainly devotes himself to the Messner Mountain Museum, of which he is the founder.

Expeditions[link]

To 1970[link]

Up to 1970 Reinhold Messner had made a name for himself mainly through his achievements in the Alps. Between 1950^{[citation needed]} 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 pillar on the Grandes Jorasses and conquered 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 Marmolata. In the following year, 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 6,121 metre-high Yerupaja Chico ^[9] He also made the first solo ascent of the Droites north face, the Philip intersection on the Civetta and the south face of Marmolata di Rocca. As a result of his achievements, Messner won the reputation of being one of the best climbers in Europe. So, in 1970, he was invited to join a major Himalayan expedition. In the light of his later successes, the year 1970 can be regarded as one of the turning points in Messner's life.

Climbs of the eight-thousanders after 1970[link]

Reinhold Messner was the first man 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:

Location of the eight-thousanders.

Nanga Parbat[link]

Rupal face of Nanga Parbat

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

Rupal Face 1970[link]

In May and June 1970 Reinhold Messner took part in the Nanga Parbat South Face expedition led by Karl Herrligkoffer, the objective of which was to climb the as yet unclimbed Rupal Face, the highest rock face in the world. His brother, Günther, was also a member of the team. On the morning of 27 June, Reinhold Messner was of the view that the weather would deteriorate rapidly, and set off alone from the last high-altitude camp. Surprisingly his brother climbed after him and caught up to him before the summit. By late afternoon, both had reached the summit of the mountain and had to pitch an emergency bivouac shelter without tent, sleeping bags and stoves because darkness was closing in. The events that followed have been the subject of years of legal actions and disputes between former expedition members, and have still not been finally resolved. What is known now is that Reinhold and Günther Messner descended the Diamir Face, thereby achieving the first crossing of Nanga Parbat (and second crossing of an eight-thousander after Mount Everest in 1963). Reinhold arrived in the valley six days later with severe frostbite, but survived. His brother, Günther, however died on the Diamir Face - according to Reinhold Messner on the same descent, during which they became further and further separated from each other. As a result, the time, place and exact cause of death is unknown. Messner claimed his brother had been swept away by an avalanche.

In the early years immediately after the expedition there were disputes and lawsuits between Reinhold Messner and the expedition leader, Karl-Maria Herrligkoffer. After a quarter-century of peace, the dispute flared up again in October 2001, when Reinhold Messner raised surprising allegations against the other members of the team for failing to come to their aid. The rest of the team consistently maintained that Reinhold Messner had told them of his idea for crossing the mountain before setting off for the summit. Messner himself asserts, however, that he made a spontaneous decision to descend the Diamir Face together with his brother for reasons of safety. A number of new books (Max von Kienlin, Hans Saler, Ralf-Peter Märtin, Reinhold Messner) stoked the dispute (with assumptions and personal attacks) and led to further court proceedings.

In June 2005 after an unusual heat wave on the mountain, the body of his brother was recovered on the Diamir Face, which is consistent with Messner's account of events.^[10][11]

In 2008/2009 the drama was turned into a film called Nanga Parbat by Joseph Vilsmaier based on the memories of Reinhold Messner and without participation from the other former members of the expedition. The film was due to be shown from mid-January 2010 in cinemas, but cannot be considered as a full account of the events.^[12]

Because of frostbite, especially on his feet (six toes were amputated), Reinhold Messner was not able to climb quite as well on rock after the 1970 expedition. He therefore turned his attention to higher mountains, where there was much more ice.^[13]

Solo climb in 1978[link]

After three unsuccessful expeditions, Reinhold Messner reached the summit of Nanga Parbat again via the Diamir Face on 9 August 1978. This was the first solo ascent of any eight-thousander. He used new routes both for the ascent and the descent.

Manaslu[link]

In 1972, Messner succeeded in climbing Manaslu on, what was then, the totally unknown south face of the mountain, of which there were not even any pictures. From the last high-altitude camp, he climbed with Frank Jäger, who turned back before reaching the summit. Shortly after Messner reached the summit, the weather changed and heavy fog and snow descended. Initially Messner became lost on the way down, but later found his way back to the camp, where Horst Fankhauser and Andi Schlick were waiting for him and Jäger. Jäger did not return, although his cries were heard from the camp. Orientation had become too difficult. Fankhauser and Schlick began to search for him that evening, but lost their way and sought shelter at first in a snow cave. Messner himself was no longer in a position to help the search. The following day, only Horst Fankhauser returned. Andi Schlick had left the snow cave during the night and become lost. So the expedition had to mourn the loss of two climbers. Messner was later criticised for having let Franz Jäger go back down the mountain alone.^[13]

Gasherbrum I[link]

The ascent of Gasherbrum I saw for the first time a mountaineering expedition succeeding in conquering an eight-thousander using alpine style climbing. Until that point, all fourteen 8000 meter peaks had been summitted using the expedition style, though Hermann Buhl had earlier advocated "West Alpine Style" (similar to "capsule" style, with a smaller group relying on minimal fixed ropes). Together with Peter Habeler, Messner succeeded in making the second ascent of Gasherbrum I on 10 August 1975, becoming the first man ever to climb three eight-thousanders.

Messner reached the summit again in 1984, this time together with Hans Kammerlander. This was achieved as part of a double ascent where, for the first time two eight-thousander peaks (Gasherbrum I and II) were climbed without returning to base camp. Again, this was done in alpine style, i.e. without the pre-location of stores.^[13]

Mount Everest[link]

Mount Everest. In front: Nuptse. Right: Lhotse

On 8 May 1978, Reinhold Messner stood with Peter Habeler on the summit of Mount Everest; the first men ever to climb Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen. Prior to this ascent it was disputed whether this was possible at all. Messner and Habeler were members of an expedition led by Wolfgang Nairz along the southeast ridge to the summit. Also on this expedition was Reinhard Karl, the first German to reach the summit (with oxygen).

Two years later, on 20 August 1980, Messner again stood atop the highest mountain in the world. This time, too, the ascent was made without supplementary oxygen. For this solo climb he chose the northeast ridge to the summit, where he crossed above the North Col in the North Face to the Norton Couloir and became the first man to climb through this steep gorge to the summit. Messner decided spontaneously during the ascent to use this route to bypass the exposed northeast ridge. Prior to this solo ascent he had not set up a camp on the mountain.^[13]

K2[link]

K2 seen from Concordia

For 1979, Messner was planning to climb K2 on a new direct route through the South Face, which he called the "Magic Line". Headed by Messner, the small expedition consisted of six climbers: Italians Alessandro Gogna, Friedl Mutschlechner and Renato Casarotto; the Austrian, Robert Schauer; and Germans Michl Dacher, journalist, Jochen Hölzgen, and doctor, Ursula Grether, who was injured during the approach and had to be carried to Askole by Messner and Mutschlechner. Because of avalanche danger on the original route and time lost on the approach they decided on climbing via the Abruzzi Spur. The route was equipped with fixed ropes and high-altitude camps, but no hauling equipment (Hochträger) or bottled oxygen was used. On 12 July, Messner and Dacher reached the summit; then the weather deteriorated and attempts by other members of the party failed.^[14][15]

Shishapangma[link]

During his stay in Tibet as part of his Everest solo attempt, Messner had the opportunity to explore Shishapangma. A year later, Messner, with Friedel Mutschlechner, Oswald Oelz and Gerd Baur, set base camp on the north side of the only eight-thousander which is entirely within Chinese territory. On 28 May Messner and Mutschlechner reached the summit in very bad weather; part of the climb involving ski mountaineering.^[13][15][16]

Kangchenjunga[link]

In 1982, Messner wanted to become the first climber ever to scale three eight-thousanders in one year. He was planning on climbing Kangchenjunga first, before tackling Gasherbrum II and the Broad Peak.

Messner had chosen a new variation of the route up the North Face. Because there was still a lot of snow at the time of the expedition, Messner and Mutschlechner made very slow progress. In addition, the sheer difficulty of the climb forced the two mountaineers to use fixed ropes. Finally, on 6 May, Messner, Mutschlechner and Ang Dorje stood on the summit. There, Mutschlechner suffered frostbite to his hands, and later to his feet as well. Whilst bivouacking during the descent, the tent tore away from Mutschlechner and Messner, and Messner also fell ill. He was suffering from an amoebic abscess in the liver, making him very weak. In the end he only made it back to base camp with Mutschlechner's help.^[13]

Gasherbrum II[link]

After his ascent of Kangchenjunga, Mutschlechner flew back to Europe because his frostbite had to be treated and Messner needed rest. So the three mountains could not be climbed as planned. Messner was cured of his amoebic abscess in the liver and then travelled to Gasherbrum II, but could not use the new routes as planned. In any case his climbing partners, Sher Khan and Nazir Sabir, would not have been strong enough. Nevertheless, all three reached the summit on 24 July in a storm. During the ascent Messner discovered the body of a previously missing Austrian mountaineer, whom he buried two years later at the G I - G II crossing.^[13]

Broad Peak[link]

Broad Peak was the third eight-thousander scaled by Messner in 1982. At the time, he was the only person with a permit to climb this mountain, but he came across Jerzy Kukuczka and Wojciech Kurtyka, who had permits to climb K2 but used its geographic proximity to climb Broad Peak illegally. In early descriptions of the ascent, Messner omitted to mention this encounter but he referred to it several years later. On 2 August Messner was reunited with Nazir Sabir and Khan again on the summit. The three mountaineers had decamped and made for Broad Peak immediately after their ascent of Gasherbrum II. The climb was carried out with a variation from the normal route at the start.^[13]

Cho Oyu[link]

In the winter of 1982/1983, Messner attempted the first winter ascent of Cho Oyu. He reached an altitude of about 7,500 metres, when great masses of snow forced him to turn back. This expedition was his first with Hans Kammerlander. A few months later, on 5 May, he reached the summit via a partially new route together with Kammerlander and Michl Dacher.^[13]

Annapurna[link]

In 1985, Messner topped out on Annapurna. Using a new route on the northwest face, he reached the summit with Kammerlander on 24 April. Also on the expedition were Reinhard Patscheider, Reinhard Schiestl and Swami Prem Darshano, who did not reach the top. Even during Messner and Kammerlander's ascent the weather was not good and they had to be assisted by the other three during the descent due to heavy snowfall.^[13]

Dhaulagiri[link]

Messner's attempt on the summit in 1977 fails on Dhaulagiri's South Face

Messner had already attempted Dhaulagiri in 1977 and 1984, but failed. In 1985 he finally made it. He climbed with Kammerlander up the normal route along the northeast ridge. After only 3 days of climbing they stood on the top in a heavy storm on 15 May.^[13]

Makalu[link]

Messner tried four times to climb Makalu. He failed in 1974 and 1981 on the South Face of the south-east ridge. In winter 1985/1986 he attempted the first winter ascent of Makalu via the normal route. Even this venture did not succeed.^[13] Not until February 2009, was the Makalu successfully climbed in winter by Denis Urubko and Simone Moro.

In 1986 Messner returned and succeeded in reaching the top using the normal route with Kammerlander and Mutschlechner. Although they had turned back twice during this expedition, they made the summit on the third attempt on 26 September. During this expedition Messner witnessed the death of Marcel Rüedi, for whom the Makalu was his 9th eight-thousander. Rüedi was on the way back from the summit and was seen by Messner and the other climbers on the descent. Although he was making slow progress, he appeared to be safe. The tea for his reception had already boiled when Rüedi disappeared behind a snow ridge and did not reappear. He was found dead a short time later.^[13]

Lhotse[link]

Messner climbed his last eight-thousander, Lhotse, on 16 October 1986 together with Hans Kammerlander, using the normal route. Both climbers had to contend with a strong wind in the summit area. To reach the summit that year and before winter broke, they took a direct helicopter flight from the Makalu base camp to the Lhotse base camp.

Thus Messner became the first person to climb all eight-thousanders, before Jerzy Kukuczka. Since this ascent, Messner has never climbed another eight-thousander.^[13] In 1989 Messner led a European expedition to the South Face of the mountain. The aim of the expedition was to forge a path up the as-yet unclimbed face. Messner himself did not want to climb any more. The expedition was unsuccessful.^[17]

Other expeditions after 1970[link]

Reinhold Messner at the Bozen Bacon Festival, May 2004

• 1971 — Journeys to the mountains of Persia, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan and East Africa
• 1972  — Noshak (7,492 m) in the Hindu Kush
• 1973 — Marmolata West Pillar, first climb; Furchetta West Face, first climb
• 1974  — Aconcagua south wall (6,959 m), partially new "Tyrol Route"; Eiger North Face with Peter Habeler in 10 hours (then a record; still today the fastest climb by a roped party)
• 1976 — Mount McKinley (6,193 m), "Face of the Midnight Sun", first climb
• 1978  — Kilimanjaro (5,895 m), "Breach Wall", first climb
• 1979 — Ama Dablam rescue attempt; first climbs in the Hoggar Mountains, Africa
• 1981 — Chamlang (7,317 m) Centre Summit-North Face, first climb
• 1985 — Tibet Transversale with Kailash exploration
• 1986 — Crossing of East Tibet; Mount Vinson (4,897 m, Antarctic), on 3 December 1986, thus becoming the first person to complete Seven Summits without the use of artificial oxygen on Mount Everest.^[18]
• 1987 — Bhutan trip; Pamir trip
• 1988 — Yeti-Tibet solo expedition
• 1989–1990 — Antarctic crossing (over the South Pole) on foot, 2,800 km trek with Arved Fuchs
• 1991 — Bhutan crossing (east-west); "Around South Tyrol" as a positioning exercise
• 1992 — Ascent of Chimborazo (6,310 m); crossing of Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang
• 1993 — Trip to Dolpo, Mustang and Manang in Nepal; Greenland longitudinal crossing (diagonal) on foot, 2,200 km trek
• 1994 — Cleaning project in North India/Gangotri, Shivling region (6,543 m); to Ruwenzori (5,119 m), Uganda
• 1995 — Arctic crossing (Siberia to Canada) failed; trip to Belukha (4,506 m), Altai Mountains/Siberia
• 1996 — Trip through East Tibet and to Kailash
• 1997 — Trip to Kham (East Tibet); small expedition into Karakorum; filming on the Ol Doinyo Lengai (holy mountain of the Massai) 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 (5,897 m), 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 2,000 km trek
• 2005 — Trip to the Dyva Nomads in Mongolia; "time journey" around Nanga Parbat/Pakistan

The Messner Mountain Museum[link]

In 2003 Messner started work on a project for a mountaineering museum.^[19] On 11 June 2006 the Messner Mountain Museum (MMM) opened, a museum that unites the stories of the growth and decline of mountains, culture in the Himalayan region and the history of South Tyrol within one museum.

Plan view of the Messner Mountain Museum at Firmian

The MMM consists of the main museum at Sigmundskron Castle, which majors on the relationship between man and mountain, and four branches with different themes:

• Juval Castle in the Burggrafenamt looks at mystical mountains, such as Mount Kailash or Ayers Rock and their religious significance.
• The MMM on the Monte Rite (2181 metres high) is dedicated to the subject of rocks, particularly in the Dolomites. Here, the history of the formation of the Dolomites is explained. It is housed in an old fort.
• The fourth MMM is located in Sulden on the Ortler. Here, everything revolves around the theme of ice. It deals with the history of mountaineering on ice and the great glaciers of the world. Next to the MMM is the "Yak und Yeti" inn.
• The fifth MMM is still in development. It is due to be opened in the spring of 2011 at Bruneck Castle in the South Tyrol. In addition to the presentation of various hill tribes, such as Sherpas, Tibetans and Hunza, each year guest speakers from mountainous areas of the world will talk about their lives in the castle.^[20]

In Media[link]

• Gasherbrum - Der leuchtende Berg, a Werner Herzog TV documentary from the year 1985, also known as: The Dark Glow of the Mountains.
• Nanga Parbat (2010)
• The band Ben Folds Five has an album entitled The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

References[link]

Selected bibliography (English translations)[link]

• Messner, Reinhold (1998). Free Spirit: A Climber's Life. Seattle, WA, USA: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-573-5. 
• Messner, Reinhold (1998). The Crystal Horizon: Everest - The First Solo Ascent. Seattle, WA, USA: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-574-3. 
• Messner, Reinhold (1999). All Fourteen 8,000ers. Seattle, WA, USA: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-660-X. 
• Messner, Reinhold (2000). My Quest for the Yeti: Confronting the Himalayas' Deepest Mystery. New York, NY, USA: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-20394-8. 
• Messner, Reinhold (2001). The Big Walls: From the North Face of the Eiger to the South Face of Dhaulagiri. Seattle, WA, USA: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-844-0. 
• Messner, Reinhold; trans. by Tim Carruthers (2002). The Second Death of George Mallory: The Enigma and Spirit of Mount Everest. New York, NY, USA: St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-27075-5. 
• Messner, Reinhold (2003). The Naked Mountain. Seattle, WA, USA: Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-959-5. 

• Publications in German

Sources[link]

• Wetzler, Brad (October 2002). "Reinhold Don't Care What You Think". Outside Magazine. http://outsideonline.com/outside/features/200210/200210_messner_1.html. 
• Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air. United States of America: Random House, 1996.

External links[link]

• Official site (German)
• Discovery of remains ends controversy about the death of Reinhold Messner's brother
• Messner Mountain Museum
• Messner Mountain Museum website
• Messner - 2002
• [1] (rare English interview with Messner)

Interviews[link]

• Gaia Symphony Documentary series (Japanese production).

See also[link]

• List of climbers