Reinhold Messner

About Reinhold Messner

Reinhold Messner, born in 1944 in South Tyrol, climbed his first three-thousander at the age of 5 accompanied by his father. After studying engineering, he worked briefly as a middle school teacher before dedicating himself entirely to mountaineering, leading to a life as a border crosser.

Since 1969, he has undertaken more than a hundred journeys to the mountains and deserts of this earth, written four dozen books, and achieved many first ascents, including climbing all 14 eight-thousanders as well as the ‘seven summits’, crossing Antarctica, the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts, and traversing Greenland.

Unlike modern adventurers, Reinhold Messner is less concerned with records and more with being exposed in as pristine natural landscapes as possible and traveling with a minimum of equipment. He followed the ‘By fair means’ principle proclaimed by Albert Frederick Mummery on Nanga Parbat, Fridtjof Nansen’s ‘Call of the North’ into the pack ice of the Arctic, and crossed Antarctica to the South Pole based on an idea by Ernest Henry Shackleton. He contrasts his pedestrian travels with the possibilities of the communication age, forgoing pitons, oxygen masks, and satellite phones – an anachronism that preserves an inexhaustible potential for experience in the wilderness.

Between his travels, Reinhold Messner lives with his family in Merano and at Juval Castle in South Tyrol, where he manages mountain farms, writes, and develops museum facilities. As a commentator on television and a speaker, he is sought after by climbers, tourists, and business leaders worldwide. In the last 15 years, Reinhold Messner has dedicated himself to his project Messner Mountain Museum (MMM) and his foundation (MMF), which supports mountain peoples worldwide. He gives lectures throughout Europe, the USA, Japan, Australia, and South America, and there are also documentary films; various articles in STERN, SPIEGEL, GEO, etc.

To date, Reinhold Messner has published 50 books, which have been translated into all languages. For over 30 years, Mr. Messner has been one of the most successful climbers of all time – there are few people who can tell so much from such diverse countries, environments, and border experiences.

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