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Alpinism means you go by yourself with your own responsibility, knowing that you could die. But Everest now is more like ski tourism: preparing the piste, helping people go up, setting oxygen bottles near the summit.
Reinhold Messner
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote contrasts the true spirit of alpinism with the commercialization of climbing Everest, emphasizing personal responsibility and risk.

Reinhold Messner highlights the essence of alpinism as a solitary and self-reliant pursuit fraught with danger, arguing that the experience of climbing Everest has become commodified and overly safe, diminishing the authentic challenge that once defined the sport. His words reflect a concern that the thrill and personal growth derived from facing extreme risks are being lost in the modern approach to mountaineering, which prioritizes accessibility and safety over the inherent dangers of the climb.

Themes

AlpinismEverestResponsibilityRiskMountaineering

In practice

Example use cases

A motivational speech on overcoming challenges could incorporate this quote to illustrate facing personal risks.

More from Reinhold Messner

I became famous for the fact that I would break many, many limits. People said, 'He does all these crazy things.' But oddly it was a crazy thing only because scientists and climbers said, 'Everest and the 8,000-meter peaks without oxygen - impossible. Messner is becoming sick in his head.'
Reinhold MessnerRead
A 30-year-old rock climber is an old man. At 40, one is in the middle of his high-altitude power. At 50, a crosser of deserts is at his best age. But at 60, each of us is out of the game.
Reinhold MessnerRead
I think my cultural work is more important than the adventures I did. The adventures are not important for human beings. It's the conquering of the useless.
Reinhold MessnerRead
In mountaineering, there is not only the activity, but the philosophy behind it. Some say a moral, but I am against that because all morality is dangerous.
Reinhold MessnerRead
I was the first man to climb the world's 14 tallest peaks without supplementary oxygen, but I never asked how high I would go, just how I would do it.
Reinhold MessnerRead
In my state of spiritual abstraction, I no longer belong to myself and to my eyesight. I am nothing more than a single narrow gasping lung, floating over the mists and summits.
Reinhold MessnerRead

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