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Reinhold Messner (born September 17, 1944 at Villnöss-Funes, South Tyrol, Italy) is by many people's estimation the most accomplished mountain climber of all time.
Messner was the first man to ascend Mount Everest alone, during monsoon season no less, without supplementary oxygen in 1980 (he'd done it earlier as part of a two-man team with Peter Haebeler in 1978), first to achieve a solo ascent of the technically difficult Nanga Parbat, and the first to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders (peaks over 8,000 metres above sea level). He has also crossed Antarctica by himself. He has written a number of books about his experiences, many available translated into English and other languages.
He today carries on a diversified business related to his mountaineering skills. Since 1999 he has held political office as a member of the European Parliament for the Italian Green Party (Federazione dei Verdi).
Charges have been leveled against Messner that he has perhaps pushed himself too hard in his career and suffered real brain damage from hypoxia at high altitudes. Others counter that this does not in any way detract from his accomplishments, and Messner himself has always been very much an individualist from the start.
An unrelated tidbit is that Ben Folds Five released an album titled The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner in 1999. The title has nothing to do with the mountain climber, but in fact refers to a name their friend put on fake IDs back in their college days.
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