I want to solve a climbing problem in the mountains, not in the sporting goods store. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Traditional alpinism is to go where the others are not going and to be self-reliant. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I have always said that a mountain without danger is not a mountain. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I was 5 when I went up my first 10,000 ft mountain, with my parents, and I have been climbing ever since. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Albert Frederick Mummery and Chris Bonington are the British climbers I most admire. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
The art of climbing is to go where you go knowing that you could die, but you don't die. That is adventure. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I can't tell people to love mountains. They have to find their own way. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I have a very different fear if I'm all alone in the summit area of Mount Everest and if I know that… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
In climbing there is no question of right or wrong. Moral right or wrong, that is a religious question, they have nothing… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Alpinism means you go by yourself with your own responsibility, knowing that you could die. But Everest now is more like ski… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
In mountaineering, there is not only the activity, but the philosophy behind it. Some say a moral, but I am against that… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
When I was a small child, I began on small mountains. Now, as I am getting older, the small peaks are getting… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
There is no joy involved in climbing mountains, there is simply the challenge, the self-invented challenge, the play. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
For me the Everest solo was the icing on the cake of my climbs: the highest mountain in the world, during a… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Ninety per cent of the tourists climbing big mountains are on 10 mountains - and one million mountains in the world are empty. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
The best climbers no longer go to the 8000ers, but to the most difficult mountains in the world which are 6000 or… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
In the West, the art of rock climbing is growing because it has to do with less risk, good muscles. But the… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I was first to understand it was boring to go with heavy shoes to base camp. When we first tried Dhaulagiri, a… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
...seen from above, landscapes are made up of mountains and watercourses. Just as a transparent model of the human body consists of… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
If you have a high-way on Everest, you don't meet the mountain. If everything is prepared, and you have a guide who… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Adventure has to do with private, personal experiences. But, the possibilities, there are millions of unclimbed mountains - I have seen in… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I would never bring a flag on the summit. If somebody is climbing for a country he is not normal, he is… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
The mountains are dangerous. Only an unintelligent person will say they are not dangerous. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
This is one of my definitions of mountaineering: to go where others do not. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Mountaineering is over. Alpinism is dead. Maybe its spirit is still alive a little in Britain and America, but it will soon… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
On your own, relying on yourself, you will never feel you are stronger than the mountain, and your respect for the peak… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I am not so proud to climb all the 8,000-meter peaks, but I was proud to climb Nanga Parbat solo. That was… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I am not made for lonely expeditions. In the sixties, I climbed during the day so I wouldn't have to be alone.… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Look, I do not control alpinism. But maybe I was too successful. Many in the mountaineering scene - journalists, second-rate climbers, lecturers,… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
The true alpinist doesn't want any infrastructure, he wants to go into the wild. And the odds of getting killed there are… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Climbing is more of an art than a sport. It's the aesthetics of a mountain that compels me. The line of a… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I was in continual agony; I have never in my life been so tired as on the summit of Everest that day.… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I was the first man to climb the world's 14 tallest peaks without supplementary oxygen, but I never asked how high I… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Around half of the top alpinists have died climbing. Of course if I'm careful and turn back more often than the others,… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Not only during the ascent, but also during the descent my willpower is dulled. The longer I climb the less important the… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Climbing has so much more culture than all other activities put together. There is no culture in tennis, just a few names,… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Fame is very heavy. When there are large crowds, I'm unable to handle it. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
The cliches that circulate in the German media about Joachim Sauer are a total fallacy. The fact is that he's his own man. He's… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Climbing is not a competition, and you cannot talk in terms of 'greatest,' it means nothing. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Life is about daring to carry out your ideas. And for me, it always comes back to the wilderness, nature, mountains. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I have a very different fear if I'm all alone in the summit area of Mount Everest and if I know that there is… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
For years I was a rock climber and nothing else. I went to school, yes, and university, yes, but in my heart I was… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
An account of an expedition is not a novel. Therefore an authentic account can never be given, let alone written down by someone who… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Ueli Steck, I'm absolutely certain, had a very strong inner drive to keep pushing. He set very high standards for himself. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
I can't tell people to love mountains. They have to find their own way. — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
...seen from above, landscapes are made up of mountains and watercourses. Just as a transparent model of the human body consists of a framework… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image
Out of all the climbers of this generation, I was the one who became known to the larger public. Many of them - not… — Reinhold Messner Copy Share Image