Voting Station

Reinhold Messner

Please vote to return to collections.

Adventurer

The Resume

    (September 17, 1944- )
    First mountain climber to scale the 14 'eight-thousanders' - fourteen independent mountains that are higher than 8,000 meters from sea level (1970-86)
    First (and as of 2006 only) person to climb Mount Everest solo without supplemental oxygen (1980)
    First (along with fellow adventurer Arved Fuchs) to reach the South Pole on skis without motorized or animal assistance (December 30, 1989)
    Walked solo (2000 kilometers) through the Gobi Desert (2004)
    Italian Green Party member of the European Parliament (1999-2004)
    Authored the books 'The Crystal Horizon: Everest - The First Solo Ascent,' 'All Fourteen 8,000ers,' 'The Naked Mountain,' 'The Big Walls: From the North Face of the Eiger to the South Face of Dhaulagirl,' 'Free Spirit: A Climber's Life' and 'My Quest for the Yeti: Confronting the Himalayas' Deepest Mystery'

Why he might be annoying:

    He is arrogant.
    Some fellow mountain climbers have labeled him a glory monger, self-promoter and control freak.
    He has a short temper and has ended friendships abruptly.
    Some attribute his occasional outbreaks of bizarre behavior as the result of oxygen deprivation from scaling too many mountains without oxygen.
    He believes in the Yeti (Abominable Snowman), claims to have seen it twice and describes it as a stinky, bear-like creature.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His younger brother and fellow climber Günther died in an avalanche scaling the 26,660-foot Nanga Parbat (1970).
    He had seven toes amputated due to frostbite.
    Many mountaineering experts list him as the greatest mountain climber of all time.
    Most agree his solo conquest of Mt. Everest without oxygen is unlikely to be matched since climbers scale in groups for safety reasons.
    The band Ben Folds Five released a 1999 album entitled 'The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner' based on a fake ID their drummer used, not realizing Messner was real (and famous).

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 11 Votes: 81.82% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 39 Votes: 51.28% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 49 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 31 Votes: 74.19% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 217 Votes: 47.47% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 139 Votes: 51.80% Annoying