Reinhold Messner (4)Kangchenjunga

In 1982, Messner wanted to become the first climber ever to scale three eight-thousanders in one

year. He was planning on climbing Kangchenjunga first, before tackling Gasherbrum II and

the Broad Peak.

Messner had chosen a new variation of the route up the North Face. Because there was still a lot of

snow at the time of the expedition, Messner and Mutschlechner made very slow progress. In

addition, the sheer difficulty of the climb forced the two mountaineers to use fixed ropes. Finally, on 6

May, Messner, Mutschlechner and Ang Dorje stood on the summit. There, Mutschlechner suffered

frostbite to his hands, and later to his feet as well. Whilst bivouacking during the descent, the tent

tore away from Mutschlechner and Messner, and Messner also fell ill. He was suffering from an

amoebic abscess in the liver, making him very weak. In the end he only made it back to base camp

with Mutschlechner's help.

Gasherbrum II[edit]

After his ascent of Kangchenjunga, Mutschlechner flew back to Europe because his frostbite had to

be treated and Messner needed rest. Thus the three mountains could not be climbed as planned.

Messner was cured of his amoebic abscess in the liver and then travelled to Gasherbrum II, but

could not use the new routes as planned. In any case, his climbing partners, Sher Khan and Nazir

Sabir, would not have been strong enough. Nevertheless, all three reached the summit on 24 July in

a storm. During the ascent, Messner discovered the body of a previously missing Austrian

mountaineer, whom he buried two years later at the G I - G II crossing.[12]

Broad PeakBroad Peak was the third eight-thousander scaled by Messner in 1982. At the time, he was the person with a permit to climb this mountain, but he came across Jerzy Kukuczka and Wojciech Kurtyka, who had permits to climb K2, but used its geographic proximity to climb Broad Peak illegally. In early descriptions of the ascent, Messner omitted to mention this encounter, but he referred to it several years later. On 2 August, Messner was reunited with Nazir Sabir and Khan again on the summit. The three mountaineers had decamped and made for Broad Peak immediately after their ascent of Gasherbrum II. The climb was carried out with a variation from the normal route at the start.

Cho Oyu[edit]

In the winter of 1982/1983, Messner attempted the first winter ascent of Cho Oyu. He reached an

altitude of about 7,500 metres, when great masses of snow forced him to turn back. This expedition

was his first with Hans Kammerlander. A few months later, on 5 May, he reached the summit via a

partially new route together with Kammerlander and Michl Dacher.[12]

Annapurna[edit]

In 1985, Messner topped out on Annapurna. Using a new route on the northwest face, he reached

the summit with Kammerlander on 24 April. Also on the expedition were Reinhard Patscheider,

Reinhard Schiestl and Swami Prem Darshano, who did not reach the top. Even during Messner and

Kammerlander's ascent the weather was not good and they had to be assisted by the other three

during the descent due to heavy snowfall.[12]