Reinhold Messner (5)

Dhaulagiri[edit]

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

Messner had already attempted Dhaulagiri in 1977 and 1984, but failed. In 1985 he finally summited. 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.[12] Makalu[edit] 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.[12] 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 Redi, for whom the Makalu was his 9th eight-thousander. Redi 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 Redi disappeared behind a snow ridge and did not reappear. He was found dead a short time later.[12] Lhotse[edit] Messner climbed his last eight-thousander, Lhotse, on 17 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 (Jerzy Kukuczka being the second person). Since this ascent, Messner has never climbed another eight-thousander.[12] 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.[16]