One of the most famous and influential climbers in the world, Reinhold Messner has been climbing since he was five years old. By the age of 20, Messner had climbed most of the hardest routes in the Dolomites and the Western Alps and had begun to formulate his philosophy of clean climbing. In succession, he made a swift two-man ascent of a 28,000 footer (Hidden Peak, with Peter Habeler), and oxygen-free ascent of Everest, and then solo ascents of both Nanga Parbat and Everest. He was the first man to climb all fourteen 8,000-metre peaks, but he considers the first traverse of two of these in a single expedition— Gasherbrum I and II, with Hans Kammerlander in 1984— as his supreme Himalayan achievement. In this conversation between Wade Davis and Reinhold Messner, they get deep into a shared love of mountaineering history.

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