Nanga Parbat: the body of Günther Messner found

The body of Günther Messner has been found on Nanga Parbat. He died 35 years ago.

August 2005

Rome, 17 August. (Ap) - After 35 years the body of GÃ¼nther Messner, the brother of the famous mountaineer Reinhold Messner, has been found on Nanga Parbat. The German newspaper Welt online reports Naeem Khan, Messner's press officer in Islamabad, stating that it was the south Tyrolean climber who identified the body on the basis of the boots and jacket which the 23 year-old wore at the time.

GÃ¼nther Messner died in 1970 during an ascent of Nanga Parbat (8.125 meters), one of the 14 peaks top 8000m in the Himalaya. His death sparked bitter controversy between Reinhold and the other members of the expedition, who accused him of having abandoned his brother during the ascent to reap personal glory. Messner on the other hand has stated that after having reached the summit together the two were separated during the descent, and that GÃ¼nther was probably swept away by an avalanche on the opposite side of the mountain. The finding of the body confirms definitively the version of the South Tyrolean climber, the first mountaineer in the world to have climber all 14 8000m peaks.

Two years ago bone samples found at the foot of the mountain had been analysed by the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Researchers carried out DNA tests and had established, with almost absolute certainty, that the bone belonged to GÃ¼nther.

Francesca Colesanti

Nanga Parbat (8125m)
Himalaya, Kashmir – Pakistan.
F.A. 03/07/1953 by Austrian Hermann Buhl (member of the Austrian/German expedition led by Herrligkoffer).
It was the third 8000m peak to be climbed in the world and Buhl astounded the mountaineering world with his fantastic solo ascent.