“I am not made for lonely expeditions. In the sixties, I climbed during the day so I wouldn't have to be alone. I finally learned to stay up for weeks in the high altitude all by my own without being afraid.”

Italian climber, explorer, and author

Reinhold Messner is an Italian climber, explorer, and author from South Tyrol, born in 1944. He is known for a series of landmark feats in high-altitude mountaineering and exploration. He made the first solo ascent of Mount Everest and, with Peter Habeler, the first ascent of Everest without supplementary oxygen. He was also the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without supplementary oxygen. Beyond the mountains, he crossed Antarctica and Greenland without snowmobiles or dog sleds, and also crossed the Gobi Desert alone.