Is it necessary to rewrite the history of the records in the 14 'eight thousand'?

On July 8, a small earthquake shook the unofficial list of people who have climbed the 14 highest mountains on the planet, the so-called 14

-thousanders .

A painstaking report by a tiny group of researchers announced on their website, 8000ers.com, that only three of them had actually climbed all the coveted peaks: Ed Viesturs (USA), Veikka Gustafsson (Finland) and Nepalese Nirmal Purja.

The case of Nirmal Purja, known as the first to step on these peaks in 2019 in a record time of 6 months, deserves side consideration: he almost sneakily returned to Manaslu and Dhaulagiri in 2021 but without making his mistake public. .

So his record, in the opinion of scholars, would be invalidated: he did not invest six months but two years, five months and 15 days.

But the most surprising novelty had to do with the absence of Reinhold Messner in the list of three validated people.

It couldn't be.

The man who invented a challenge tailored to him, the first to climb the 14 mythical mountains (he finished in 1986) and without using artificial oxygen, hadn't he scrupulously stepped on each and every one of them?

Apparently not: he failed to find the highest point of Annapurna I, a mountain whose top is actually an edge that observes several protuberances without it being easy to know which is the highest.

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The history of mountaineering falls apart

The very detailed report of July 8 was an expected job, since the same researchers already published an article in 2019 in which they assured that, after seven years reviewing photos of the 14 peaks, they had no doubts that many climbers had not reached the highlight especially with regard to three mountains: Annapurna I, Dhaulagiri and Manaslu.

That article did not provide names and surnames and few thought that any of the 44 registered fourteen chomilists were suspicious.

But suspected of what?

In no case is there talk of 'deception' or 'trap', but of 'error': for various reasons, the mountaineers really believed that they were at the top of the mountain, they photographed themselves and descended.

Most of the errors occur in Manaslu, where assessment failures have been continuous for decades,

which explains why it is now fashionable: many want to be among the first to reach the true top.

It remained to be seen how many would return to this mountain to correct their mistake.

However, the case of Messner is unique: the photos provided of his summit on Annapurna actually place him about 5 meters above the summit and 65 meters away.

In 2021, the newspaper

asked Messner about it: “If they say I fell 5 meters below the top on that long ridge, that's fine with me.

I'm not even going to try to defend myself.

If for this they say that everything I did was shit… let them think what they want, ”he declared, visibly upset.

The German Erberhard Jurgalski, soul of the research team, is clear that the “history of Himalayanism should be rewritten.

For many reasons.

For example, there is no woman who has actually been to the 14 peaks, the challenge is still open”, which affects Edurne Pasaban or Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who were not, according to the study, at the top of Manaslu and Dhaulagiri.

According to the considerations and the work of Jurgalski's team, Spanish male climbers would not appear on the list either: Juan Oiarzabal, Alberto Iñurrategi, Ferrán Latorre and Oscar Cadiach did not reach at least the true summit of Manaslu, the mountain that has died recently the North American skier Hilaree Nelson.

It may be that Manaslu observes the most hidden and treacherous peak of the 14

.

Alberto Iñurrategi, draws a face of bewilderment: “I remember that we followed the ridge and at one point it descended and no higher point could be seen.

We were convinced that this was the top, but after seeing the study it seems that it was not, it is clear that we were wrong, ”he acknowledges elegantly.

The evidence collected by the image analysis specialist, Rodolphe Popier, the same one who cast shadows on the lightning ascent of Ueli Steck on Annapurna in 2013, explains that from the point where Iñurrategi and so many others turned around, it is impossible to see the true summit, which is characterized by having a rocky part with two different shades, a fact that unequivocally indicates the highest point of the mountain.

“I will not return to Manaslu”, explains Iñurrategi: “I can live with the mistake:

I stayed about 10 meters off the ground and 35 meters away in a straight line, depending on the job.

The news does not affect me personally but I highly value the investigative work: it is superb and necessary and will help future candidates not to make our mistakes”.

Ferrán Latorre also turned around in Manaslu at the same point reached by the majority.

“But on top of that I went up twice: once with Pasaban, I went down the ridge and went back up with my girlfriend.

So I summited twice in the wrong place on the same day."

Latorre also praises the work: “you have to be very geek to carry out such a study, but it is good that it comes to light.

Although I recognize that I made a mistake, and surely the same in the Dhaulagiri, I will not return to these mountains either, but I must admit that it affects me personally.

I've always liked the peaks, the unique moment of being up there, where you can't go any higher.

It's something romantic that I'm going to miss now when I do the mental count of my 14″, recognizes the Catalan.

On the right, the true top of Manaslu.

The point marked C 2 is where the top was believed to be and from which it is not possible to see the real top.

This fall there was a certain curiosity to know how many of those affected would return to Manaslu: the Italian Nives Meroi had announced his desire to return to take this summit, and the German Ralf Dujmovits is these days in Manaslu to do the same.

But silence or indifference from the majority has been the most widespread response, says Jurgalski.

The study has brought to light other failures that resonate with sadness.

Erhard Loretan, the third man to win the 14 'eight thousand', also did not reach the top of Dhaulagiri when he opened it in winter!

a new route on its east face in 1985: “a fantastic climb but no summit.

He stayed 14 meters away mistaking her for a pinnacle.

Unfortunately, we have to remove it from the list.

It is not our fault: the truth is the truth and the false is false, either by accident or with malicious intent”, he explained in his Jurgalski report.

The most respected ascent in the history of Himalayanism occurred in 1985, when the Pole Voytek Kurtyka and the Austrian Robert Schauer climbed the west face of Gasherbrum IV, which is not even an 'eight thousand' (measures 7,925 m).

They opened a route from another era and did not reach the top.

The top is the top, yes… and it is extremely important when photography is only valued at the top.

The most genuine mountaineering, on the other hand, attaches more importance to style, ethics and the means used to achieve it... even if it is necessary to return with no other peak than satisfaction.

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