“The best climbers no longer go to the 8000ers, but to the most difficult mountains in the world which are 6000 or 7000-meter-peaks. There they find any kind of playground. But it is a pity that the really good climbers have fewer opportunities to finance their expeditions because so much attention is taken away by the Everest tourists.”

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.