Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner
on Monday described as "nonsense" the move by Guinness World
Records to strip him of his record as the first person to climb
the world's 14 mountains over 8,000 m.
The decision came after German mountaineering reporter Eberhard
Jurgalski claimed Messner and Hans Kammerlander failed to reach
the summit of Annapurna, in Nepal, in 1985.
It's "Nonsense", the 79-year-old from Funes in Italy's Alpine
Alto Adige region told ANSA.
"First of all, I have never claimed any records, so they cannot
disown me," he said.
"Also, mountains change. Almost 40 years have passed, if someone
has climbed Annapurna it was certainly Hans and I," added
Messner.
One of Italy's most illustrious extreme mountaineers, Messner
made the first solo ascent of Mt Everest without bottled oxygen
in 1980.
Since then he has gone on to break numerous other records and
inspired generations of mountain climbers.
He has also given his name to a network of Mountain Museums in
Alto Adige.
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