Reinhold Messner, the maverick rock climber, green politician, high altitude alpinist, Yeti Hunter and controversial rule breaker. The superlatives are endless in trying to describe arguably the greatest mountain climber of all time.
Messner pioneered the solo ascent without supplemental oxygen to the highest peaks of Mt. Everest & Nanga Parbat and broke all conventional wisdom for high altitude climbing. Messner set the agenda for modern mountaineering. He stripped the sport to its basic form. He tossed away the concept of oxygen tanks and big teams and camps, and made mountaineering a more equal contest between man and mountain. He wrote about what it was like to live and die where the air is so thin that every breath is a triumph. He became the first real solo rock star climber. When he climbed Lhotse in 1986, he became the first man to climb all 14 mountains above 8,000 meters. Messner said, 'We were real mountaineers: careful, aware and even afraid. By climbing mountains we were not learning how big we were. We were finding out how breakable, how weak and how full of fear we are. You can only get this if you expose yourself to high danger. I have always said that a mountain without danger is not a mountain.' Reinhold Messner - INTREPID ADVENTURER
No comments:
Post a Comment