Reinhold Messner, born September 17, 1944 in Bressanone/Brixen in South Tyrol, is a German-speaking Italian mountaineer, considered by many to be one of the best of the 20th century. A great defender of the alpine style and destroyer of the expedition style, he is notably known for having made the first ascent of Everest without oxygen supply with Peter Habeler, in May 1978, and was the first to have climbed the fourteen peaks more 8,000 meters in 1986.
