Climber Considered the Greatest of All Time Has Guinness World Records Stripped, Slams Guinness for Decision

Only a few dozen people have ever climbed the world's 14 mountain peaks stretching higher than 8,000 meters. Just a handful of them have been able to do it without supplementary oxygen. Italian native Reinhold Messner became the first to achieve both feats back in 1986 and has been regarded by many since then as the greatest climber of all time. But after some historical and scientific reevaluation, some of Messner's records have been stripped away.

Cartographer Eberhard Jurgalski has spent the last decade comparing climbers' accounts of their ascents with satellite and photographic information. With his latest findings, he concluded that Messner missed the summit of Annapurna by five meters when he was up there in the Nepalese Himalayas in 1985. The Guinness World Records used Jurgalski's new calculations to determine who has actually summited all 14 peaks, and in the process, stripped Messner of his records as the first person to climb all 14 and the first to do so without oxygen tanks.

"[Jurgalski's team's] conclusion is that, with a number of peaks (particularly Annapurna I, Dhaulagiri I, and Manaslu), the 'true summits' had not been correctly identified for many years," the world record organization said of the new classifications. "This means that many climbers—usually through no fault of their own—had stopped before reaching the summit."

Messner completed his final 8,000-meter peak in 1986 and is now only listed on the Guinness website as a "legacy" record holder. The new official holder is American climber Edmund Viesturs, who completed his last 8,000-meter summit without oxygen in 2005.

"The Guinness World Records titles affected by this reclassification of ‘true summits’ have necessarily had to be reset in order to reflect the base-camp-to-summit requirements," Guinness World Records' editor-in-chief Craig Glenday stated plainly of the new guidelines. "This should in no way detract from the incredible pioneering achievements made by some of the most significant mountaineers over the past 50 years; however, in the same way that we require marathon runners to finish the full 42.195-km (26.219-mile) course and circumnavigators to cover at least the 40,075-km (24,900-mile) circumference of the Earth, for a mountain climb to qualify for a Guinness World Records title, we must insist on a base-camp-to-true-summit ascent."

In response to the news, Messner didn't exactly have kind words for Jurgalski, reportedly calling him "clueless" and "not an expert." He also took to Instagram to take a subtle jab at the map enthusiast.

"It is a bit funny that again and again people use my person, my name to make themselves important. Because they themselves have nothing to tell? Have achieved nothing? Did not have the courage to realize their dreams?" he wrote, adding that the move is likely "all about money."

In another post, he reflected on the importance of the road traveled. "Not the summit but the path is the goal," he said. "My alpinism knows no records."

In the end, Messner is happy with his accomplishments, regardless of their official classification in the history books. "There are none! There will never be any in traditional alpinism!" he said of these mountaineering records. "I appreciate every alpinist, every alpinist who make their experiences on the big walls of this world. That's what it's all about life. I am and remain the conqueror of the useless but I have gained so much in my life that I can proudly say today I am a happy man!"

Sometimes life really is all about the journey and not the destination.