On his farewell tour, mountaineer Reinhold Messner stops in Bad Tölz.
In the interview conducted beforehand, he talks about highlights and dark moments in his career.
Bad Tölz – Reinhold Messner was the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders.
After wild first ascents in the Dolomites and Western Alps, the South Tyrolean came to the Himalayas for the first time in 1970 and climbed the Nanga Parbat over the difficult Rupalwand.
The expedition ended tragically: his brother Günther died while descending the opposite Diamir flank.
In 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler from Zillertal climbed Mount Everest for the first time without artificial oxygen.
Also in 1978 he returned to Nanga Parbat and managed the first solo ascent from base camp to the summit and back on an eight-thousander.
On Wednesday, September 21 (7:30 p.m.), the 77-year-old will return to the Tölzer Kurhaus for his farewell tour with “Nanga Parbat – Mein Destiny Mountain”.
In an interview with Tölzer-Kurier employee Rainer Bannier, Reinhold Messner talks about the highlights, controversial issues and dark moments in his life.
Mr. Messner, Bad Tölz is a "mountaineering town" with 19,000 inhabitants, the Alpine Club has 8,000 members here. Have you ever climbed "our" Karwendel? This is where your famous South Tyrolean mountaineer colleague Angelo Dibona made the first ascent of the Laliderer north face in 1911.
Reinhold Messner:
I didn't climb in the Karwendel, my climbing home is the Dolomites.
But I hiked there, wanted to see the Lalidererwand and Dibona's masterpiece: great route!
How did you get into mountaineering and what role did your parents play in it?
Reinhold Messner:
With the parents.
As a five-year-old I stood on the three-thousander Sass (former spelling Sass) Rigais in the Geislerspitzen, then on the Peitlerkofel.
When I was twelve, I climbed the Fermeda Towers solo.
E
xtreme mountaineers often speak of an intoxicating feeling, of happiness and freedom, but also of fear, drive and drudgery.
What predominates?
Reinhold Messner:
The flow state is a moment of happiness, the utmost concentration lets us climbers grow wings.
A recipe for success in mountaineering is: speed is safety. You yourself have always preferred flexible small expeditions without a chain of camps and with little luggage.
Reinhold Messner:
First of all, it's about the costs: Each expedition also had to be financed.
The Alpine Style costs a tenth of the Expedition Style.
Renunciation also means lightness, freedom, creativity.
At the summit you are not yet at your destination. Most things happen on the descent – especially on the high mountains, when strength and concentration dwindle or the weather changes?
Reinhold Messner:
Right!
Although the descent is much less strenuous.
In the alpine style, however, there is no backing, which can become a problem.
What does mountain camaraderie mean? Are rope partners "best friends" - or is it more about communities of convenience to achieve ambitious goals?
Reinhold Messner:
I've experienced everything, especially after successes on the mountain: camaraderie, friendship for life and underhandedness to the point of character assassination.
Climbers are people.
How did this run on the 14 eight-thousanders actually come about? A number of the high seven-thousanders - such as Rakaposhi or Masherbrum - are much more spectacular?
Reinhold Messner:
They are even more difficult, but the 14 eight-thousanders are countable and bring prestige.
And this can be bought today in travel agencies.
This is how 8000 tourism came about.
The darkest hours of your mountaineering life may have been coming home from Nanga Parbat alone and without your brother. How can you cope as a family, how can such wounds heal?
Reinhold Messner:
We went to Diamirtal as a family in 2006 to say goodbye to our brother.
Unfortunately, the parents no longer lived there.
The conspiracy theorists have brought a lot of suffering into the world.
Recently there was a debate as to whether you were actually standing on the highest point of Annapurna – or maybe just a few meters away on the ridge in the stormy fog. Does that annoy you?
Reinhold Messner:
No.
There is ignorance and malice behind it.
But the gps apex nonsense is for sale with my name on it.
But every alpinist knows that nature is not a statistical variable.
How is the situation at Manaslu? Mountaineers report that the highest point often cannot be accessed at all due to the fragile entanglements of the exposed summit rocks.
Reinhold Messner:
Every peak is different, and mountains are exposed to weathering and storms, cornices break and the permafrost recedes.
The summit is already there several times on the Sassolungo.
30 years ago, the high Alpine peaks were still sublime, majestically glowing ice bastions with fantastic firn flanks and cornice ridges. Now, climate change is stunting them into desolate, collapsing heaps of rubble. Is classic alpinism past its prime?
Reinhold Messner:
Traditional alpinism is becoming more dangerous because of global warming and other climate influences.
So you have to be even more careful.
The mountain is unintentional, only humans make mistakes.
Now you are almost 78 years old and your extreme tours are history. What is your priority now? Is the museum project finished? And what advice would you like to give to your audience?
Reinhold Messner:
The museum also remains a process.
It is as much a part of my heritage as the book Between Getting Through and Perishing.
Farewell will be my final expedition.
Democracy is coming under increasing pressure. Nationalism, oppression of peoples, war and land grabs threaten peaceful coexistence. South Tyrol also experienced bad times from the First World War to the Statute of Autonomy in 1972 and is today a place of prosperity and peace. Could this be a model for others?
Reinhold Messner:
We South Tyroleans are fortunate to have given up our national self-image in the last 100 years – a difficult period between annexation to Italy and local autonomy: We are South Tyroleans and Europeans, but not Italians, Austrians or Germans.
I also want to be a citizen of the world, with respect for all people - unfortunately, the latter is becoming increasingly difficult.
Tickets and further information are available online at www.wunderfalke.de
You can find more current news from the region around Bad Tölz at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.
