The Wetass In Winter–Reinhold Messner: He’s brash, egotistical, and loves to dive into controversy. He’s also one of the best climbers to ever put boot to rock, and the Guardian newspaper has a must-read profile of the man who turned big mountain climbing on its head by throwing away his oxygen bottle, disdaining massive climbing parties in favor of going solo, and who became the first climber to stand on the top of every 8,000 meter mountain on the planet. The profile includes a concise and insightful history of Messner’s controversial evolution as a climber. More important, Messner, who is now 60, voices his profound disillusion with the state of modern mountaineering. And he doesn’t mince words (as if he ever did):
‘Mountaineering is over,’ he says, emphatically. ‘Alpinism is dead. Maybe its spirit is still alive a little in Britain and America, but it will soon die out.’…
When he stood on top of Lhotse on 16 October 1986, Messner had become the first man to climb all 14 8,000m peaks. But statistics alone could never tell the story of the danger and difficulty that he embraced. Between 1980 and 1982, eight of the world’s top climbers died at high altitude, including Joe Tasker and Pete Boardman, two of Britain’s finest alpinists. Messner knew the risks. ‘You could die in each climb and that meant you were responsible for yourself,’ he says when we meet. ‘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.’
This wilful embrace of danger has all but disappeared today, he says, blue eyes flashing with indignation. ‘High-altitude alpinism has become tourism and show. These commercial trips to Everest, they are still dangerous. But the guides and organisers tell clients, “Don’t worry, it’s all organised.” The route is prepared by hundreds of Sherpas. Extra oxygen is available in all camps, right up to the summit. People will cook for you and lay out your beds. Clients feel safe and don’t care about the risks.’
Messner mentions the tragedies of the spring climbing season of 1996, when 12 people, among them commercial clients who had paid more than $50,000 (£28,000) for a place on a team, died on Everest. ‘They climbed like stupid people. But it’s human nature to act like that. When there are so many people on a mountain you feel like there is no danger.’
Ouch. Tell us what you really think, Reinhold. As much as the commercial climbing community might not want to hear such criticism, Messner is raising questions that go to the heart of what climbing is all about. And he’s certainly earned the right…
Mad Messner: “I don’t need no stinkin’ oxygen bottles, guides, or friends. I do need a little publicity though…”
The Earthist Chronicles 