The day the first man climbed all mountains over 8000 meters – level 2

16-10-1986

Some sports performances are very special and become legends.

When Edmund Hillary was the first man who climbed Mount Everest in 1953, it was a very special moment. People thought that it would be difficult to do something so special again. Then something very special happened in 1986.

On October 16, world newspapers reported that Reinhold Messner from Italy went to the top of the world’s fourth highest mountain, Lhotse. It was special because this mountain was also the fourteenth and last mountain above 8,000 meters that Messner climbed.

He was the first man who did it and he became the best climber of all time. It took him 16 years to go to the tops of all eight-thousanders.

Messner’s first and most tragic eight-thousander was Nanga Parbat. He reached the top together with his younger brother Gunther. During the way down, the brothers separated in bad weather. Messner came down after 6 days. He was extremely tired. He was also so frozen that 7 of his toes had to be amputated. His brother Gunther died.

Difficult words: performance (an ability to be good at some activity), eight-thousander (a mountain higher than 8,000 meters or almost five miles), toes (the fingers on your feet), amputated (cut by a doctor).

What legacy do Reinhold Messner and Edmund Hillary leave to the world of mountaineering?

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