He was the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders – or was he? Reinhold Messner was stripped of a world record in September. But now there was a surprising turn of events…
The trigger for the original withdrawal was the Himalayan chronicler Eberhard Jurgalski. He had calculated that many record mountaineers turned back before reaching the “true summit”. Explosive revelation The explosive revelation also had consequences for Reinhold Messner. According to research, he was 65 meters and five meters short of the real summit on his Annapurna climb. Thus, he lost the world record in the latest edition of the Guinness Book of Records, according to which he was the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders in the world. After the real eight-thousanders were reclassified, Messner no longer stood on all 14, but “only” on 13 eight-thousanders. Messner commented on the fuss to the German Press Agency as follows: “Jurgalski has no idea. He’s not an expert. He simply confused the mountain. Of course we have reached the summit.” What followed was a shitstorm against Jurgalski. Now, however, there was a surprising turnaround – both from Jurgalski and on the Guinness website. Jurgalski rowed back on Facebook on Monday (see posting below). “Translation error” He writes that there was a translation error. The German-language press “did not correctly translate the English word ‘Legacy’ (legacy, appreciation) used in the original press release, but incorrectly translated it as ‘outdated’ (outdated, was immediately ‘deleted’).” However, that was far from what was meant. It “should have been clear that neither 8000ers.com nor Guinness wanted to – or could – revoke these titles,” Jurgalski explains further. The findings are merely “well-thought-out suggestions.” “Historical recognition table” Now Messner is listed in a “historical recognition table” on Jurgalski’s website as the first alpinist on all 14 eight-thousanders – and thus remains the king of mountaineers. “Finally, we would like to come to the conclusion that everything in this long process was well-intentioned and there was never any intention to rewrite history or even cancel historical advancements,” says Jurgalski’s statement. Viesturs or Messner? For modern ones Summit collectors will now have their own list, the “New 14-8K Collectors Era Table”. Only summiteers who have verifiably stood at the highest point are accepted. The American Ed Viesturs (64) is currently in first place. Meaning: Actually there are two record holders. Messner for the traditional, Viesturs for the modern alpinists. The records have also been revised on the Guinness website, reported “Spiegel”. Jurgalski hopes that tempers in the mountaineering scene will now calm down again – and Messner’s criticism will also stop.
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