Reinhold Messner Interviewed by Wade Davis (Voice Only)

[@aidanandtyler5138]

2:53 "I never go to a mountain knowing I have to reach the summit". The reason he is still alive.

[@cathyizzo7886]

He even said when he goes to a mountain he talks with the local people to see if they would approve of him climbing.

[@johngondolfo7179]

Years ago one of Messner' critics said he is a neanderthal and climbs like an ape. Messner responded it is an honor to be told I climb like an ape.

[@motorcop505]

Mountaineer, politician, father, cultural ambassador, philanthropist, leader, adventurer, scholar, athlete, mystic, hair icon, author, explorer, guide, gentleman, and legend. What a humble, gentle, creative, powerful, thoughtful, kind, well mannered man. I've seen other documentaries that involved Messner, but this one draws him out in a way that no other that I have witnessed has to date. He is a rare gem of a human and a gift to mankind. 🌄

[@EricForney-uz4iz]

Great description 👌 of this interview!👍👍

[@rogosteve]

Very well said.

[@bambangsuseno8764]

Reinhold Messner once said: "I am my own fatherland, and the handkerchief is my flag."

[@sergeaylwin6196]

This man is a living legend : His record and his spiritual approach towards climbing!

[@MrRavenski23]

Absolutely riveting interview, yet only 50 thumbs up. Messner is so very knowledgeable, being French, I was so impressed by his depth of understanding of the Annapurna climbing saga, but the Annapurna expedition is just a detail in this presentation, the whole interview shows Messner great depth and honesty throughout. Messner is one of the very few people who has made me feel enriched by listening to what he has to say.

[@MrRavenski23]

EL EL As far as I know, he is alive, he is only 75 and has an history of of being a healthy, fit man, so he could be going for a lot longer. He lives in a castle outside Bolzano/ Bolzen in South Tyrol according to Wilkipedia from which he runs a number of museums (musea ?) dedicated to mountaineering.

[@jonjohnson1978.]

@@MrRavenski23 his statement that getting to the top wasn't the main importance is great insight and surely one of the reasons he is alive while so many others are not

[@jonjohnson1978.]

@@MrRavenski23 always had the impression from him that he like ed viuesters and conrad anker knew their limits and would come turn around if they had to

[@kejfh2367]

üpüüüz😮

[@edmccaffrey1]

Without equal or anyone else in his class. As the greatest mountaineer of all time. Reinhold is in a category by himself. Mad respect to him!

[@robertopesenti1173]

He shares the number one with Walter Bonatti.

[@phasespace4700]

@@robertopesenti1173 and Hermann Buhl!

[@TheWieger01]

@@phasespace4700 and Chris Bonington

[@g.gg.4052]

@@TheWieger01 and Steve from Minecraft

[@dbfromm]

Thanks to the Banff Centre, and the participants for the engaging conversation. Mr. Davis might be the perfect person to interview Mr. Messner, he gave it the thought and respect the opportunity deserved.

[@ElSmusso]

Love this guy, he can both climb and tell a story

[@arneboveng3756]

One of the best interviews ever. Messner has become even more wise and now, even humble. Wade Davis is, well another legend. He's everywhere, just like Reinhold. Bufo Alvarius?

[@danigali617]

A fascinating man with the wisdom of a real climber.

[@youmnasalame4860]

Great interview! Very interesting questions! I'm not a mountaineer but I admire Messner....What a great man.

[@wreckanchor]

I like how Wade lets him talk and answer the questions. Some interviewers talk too much themselves. Messner is the greatest because he has survived.

[@holyfox94]

The most intellectual and intelligent mountaineers ever.

[@Longtack55]

I include Russell Brice there. He is driven by modesty, self-effacement and the safety of his clients and himself.

[@AdrianCalgary]

Always a real joy to listen/watch Messner and the interviewer Wade Davis was top notch

[@edwardruane8993]

Great man! What a strong spirit incredible!

[@Hfgv281]

It was that sip of glacier water that helped this man grow such strong and full hair.

[@BobQuigley]

Remarkable interview, candid replies. Refreshing, more please!

[@silverpyramid9251]

I'm an artist, I'm terrified of heights, I'm obsessed with Reinhold Messner.

[@herbertluthe6850]

I'm a chemist, I'm terrified of heights, I adore Reinhold Messner. on the other hand: in the laboratory I worked with very dangerous chemicals (such as KCN, Ni(CO)4), BeO ...) and never really worried ...

[@claumeister1]

Yes, but even Messner admits here to being afraid of being on the mountain in the dark, even after he was world famous. We are all human, after all.

[@warshipsatin8764]

i can tell youre a woman by this post because you think this combination if things is somehow interesting

[@scottsmith4145]

Mallory never intended to take the ridge and climb the 2nd step. He wrote that in his letters. Not sure why Messner is so set on belief otherwise. The norton/ Summerville route as messner said is a logical choice which i believe they indeed took or some variation. Messner himself chose a variation using the couloir so its odd that he is so set on thinking Mallory wouldnt also. Very odd indeed.

[@basantibaksi6]

Great interview. One of the greatest climbers, Wade Davis - a new "non-mountaineers" approach. Learned a lot, especially re the Herzog 1950 expedition to Annapurna.

[@emilioarroyomohamed]

Some people have nightmares about death. Death has nightmares about Messner

[@dianamincher6479]

Agreed!

[@uilleachan]

Great interview

[@AngelGonzalez-hc4zw]

He clearly explains why it’s always about the mountains and NOT about the summits. The explanation on Mallory is the best I have ever heard. The one thing we do know is that Mallory would have made it with little doubt just 40 years later due to improvements in equipment. Just crazy to imagine Mallory and Irvine getting over that second step in 1924. Mallory and Irvine were studs. Nuff said!

[@andrewdavies4955]

Yes. well said..

[@iR3vil4te]

There’s good reason to believe they didn’t actually take the ridge route - they traversed just before the first step and might have taken the ‘zig-zag’ route out of the face, reaching the NE ridge just before the third-step where I think Odell saw them. An optimistic theory, but the alternative is that they turned back before the second step, in which case where did Odell see them? (surely not the first step because they would have been going very slowly if that were the case) and what were they doing all those hours before they fell, probably in the dark?

[@jonjohnson1978.]

Your first sentence to me is always been a strong indicator on why he lived and so many others did not

[@rondog540]

If you accept Odell saw two climbers on the summit ridge close to the summit pyramid at 11:50am, then the only thing that makes sense is that they indeed traversed below the ridge towards the Great Couloir and came.out of the top left of the couloir near the third step The first step makes.zeeo sense and the second was impossible at the time (Mallory wrote exactly that as early as 1921, he wanted nothing to do with it at that altitude). And if they did make it that far by 11:50am and came to grief in the dark on relatively simple ground above camp VI, it's.reasonable to think they may have submitted and simply ran out of daylight and luck on the descent. If Odell invented or hallucinated the sighting, then all bets are off.

[@gjpowell]

@@rondog540 I struggle with the idea that Mallory, let alone with Irvine, went anywhere near "the 2nd step". He, like Norton & Somervell, was clearly aiming for the Couloir and up. The placing by Odell, and it all turns on that, is consistent with some sort of zig zag up the face to the base of "the 3rd step".

[@dano5143]

Danke Reinhold für den super Einblick!!!

[@damiano_damiano]

Brilliant interview. Thanks for sharing it :-)

[@mikhaillindan9091]

" The summit is the secondary thing"- thats why he is alive still

[@claumeister1]

You hear a lot of bad talk about Messner, but I wonder how much is just disbelief and resentment that this other guy is just a lot stronger than they are. A very few people in the world are blessed with freakish abilities, mentally and physically. Messner is probably one of those. They’re like the 1 guy in 100 million who wins the Powerball jackpot. Someone has to be that guy. But no one calls the lottery winner a liar or a braggart. He’s a senior citizen now, and he still has that crazy thick head of hair - that alone is a huge statistical anomaly among men !

[@dr.adritadas7351]

😂

[@Jim.Caughta]

His book on Mallory is great.

[@dao3740]

Thank you for this most interesting and informative interview.

[@TheSaxon.]

The available evidence suggests Mallory favoured Norton's route and not the Ridge route. Messner is a great mountaineer but his opinions are a little too absolute, with regards to certain topics.

[@jonathanclegg1595]

Mallory wasnt stupid, he wrote about how he didn't favor the ridge route. I think it very unlikely that the ridge was his route especially with Irvine with him. Far more realistic to take the couloir route with Irvine.

[@williesnyder2899]

I very much like the: “He is climbing up for the next 1,000 years.” It’s obvious that he fully understands the spirit of climbing, as Mallory understood it, and as the paying clients checking off Everest from their bucket lists will NEVER understand it!

[@herbertluthe6850]

messner got the adventurous heart!

[@brucekatsumata5808]

the GOAT 🐐🏔

[@myleschilton3473]

The legend.

[@katcabrera8272]

There's something to be said when this man has all 10 of his fingers! All these rich self absorbed ego maniacs doing interviews with missing limbs calling themselves "legend" haha This man here IS ABSOLUTELY LEGEND.

[@saund102]

He lost his toes

[@JoseyWales93]

@@saund102 He lost some of his toes.

[@scottsmith4145]

He did lose his toes though and so he could no longer be an extreme rock climber. Still a legend though.

[@morrimohr439]

If Messner said Mallory’s summit attempt was impossible then it would’ve been impossible. Not taking anything away from Mallory and Irvine, as what they did was extremely courageous given the knowledge they had at the time, the gear they had, it was truly an extraordinary venture. But hearing from somebody that is of Messner’s Pedegree, I believe him when he says their attempt would’ve been impossible.

[@summerfirebon2362]

It is impossible if Messner was right that NE ridge was Mallory route. Mallory wrote hundreds of letters and none mentioned to take NE ridge as a possible route to the summit.

[@joroboam]

Genius my hero.

[@jonjohnson1978.]

Incredibly thought provoking interview....

[@williesnyder2899]

Messner never had Sherpa haul a TV up for him.

[@cleetussnow7159]

He gave up a big clue as to whether or not Mallory made it, and he talked right past it. Mallory may have made it.

[@griffith500tvr]

Strange that even a Messner did not consider the North Colouir as a natural way up for Mallory, even if Norton went that way just hours before.

[@patrikholy3267]

...last real romantic...salute

[@christopherdrekr1078]

why would mallory need to put a small rope around the rock to abseil ? he could just put the double rope around the rock i don’t get it. i don’t think he did it either but not for that reason i do love messner tho great attitude to life.

[@kramkalisthenics]

Messner, the final frontier is underground. "On the earth there is nothing new to concur." Mammoth cave is currently 426 miles long. 6 new miles were discovered last year. Nearby Fisher Ridge Cave will one day connect to Mammoth. It is currently 130 miles long. When I was on a survey trip there in 1982 it was only 25 miles long. It's still being explored. If your waist isn't too thick, you should try caving.

[@auralplex]

Voice only

[@dannydevito5729]

t's infuriating that they are so sure he went a way that he said was unclimbable. He could have gone up thru the zig zag before the Norton route stalled and maybe they lost their way on the way down. They are all so sure he tried to climb the second step when Mallory called the ridge route unclimbable. Great climber but he's talking about writing and being a historian by just imagining himself being in the tent with them... Yeah that's cool, but it's not very historically accurate.

[@WellyCoaster]

Mallory favoured the ridge route and wrote that he thought it was surmountable. His plan was to get to the ridge above the NE shoulder. The part of the NE ridge that he said was unclimbable was the section below the NE shoulder which includes the pinnacles, this is the section where Boardman and Tasker died. That's why Mallory found the north col and and went up the north ridge to bypass the lower section of the NE ridge. This information is covered in detail by Mallory in the reconnaissance and journal writings in the lead up to the 1924 expedition.

[@scottsmith4145]

Yeh,, messner gonna be shocked one day when he finds out Mallory did actually get to the summit and not by the route hes thinking. He did give some good compliments to mallory but he's way off on what really happened up there.

[@pepryan2183]

😅

[@lifesahobby]

Norton was the man

[@ianburrows1700]

He’s very patient with wade davie’s overly long & pompus questioning.

[@chaz32]

its an odd style of questioning but it follows Davis' general narrative style - I wouldn't characterise it as pompous, its obvious he has the upmost respect for Messner.

[@ianburrows1700]

chaz32 Yes I guess it could be me I find him really pompous & the way he contorts his face with obviously well practiced lines he makes my heckles stand up ! Explorer in residence ? Oxymoron !

[@ianburrows1700]

chaz32 messner is great though great attitude to life true visionary.

[@chaz32]

Ian Burrows yeah you've definitely got a point - Davis has been delivering the same set of speeches for years verbatim so it gets a bit trite. His heart is in the right place though.

[@lmnts556]

I think thats on you, do you have some issues in your life? I think you are venting. The interviewer is excellent.

[@francoiselemeur7325]

no its always about egos...rivalries ,,,etc...anyway ,anatoli saved 3 people ...who did u save?

[@muninta5493]

🔥

[@gergelymagyar5529]

Maistro!

[@jesussanz101]

Messner isn't just the very best climber ever. Basically, he's the best DNA combination possible for a human being.

[@griffith500tvr]

I think his greatest talents are his absolut arrogance and his respect for the mountains, he often talks about his fears..... Mallory never went via 2nd step, that fact dates this video, we know more now in 2023

[@FourthWayRanch]

half of it is being able to hang around for the weather windows, you have to be either very rich with nothing better to do or a climbing bum. I like my fingers and toes, I'll stick to the crags close to the car. I saw todd skinner and piana give their talk in toronto in the 80s, skinner was a great climber too.....fell out of an old harness and left behind a widow and child.

[@alexandros8361]

I think Reinhold is a barbarian who is learning to become civilized.

[@szafranowska]

Jerzy Kukuczka was the best