Eberhard Jurgalski has never been to the Himalayas, but he knows all the peaks and routes and knows who topped the climbs and who didn’t. A few days ago, the work of the German mountain chronicler caused mountain legend Reinhold Messner to lose two world records. Since then he has been exposed to a global shitstorm, he revealed to the “Krone”.
“They want to destroy me!” The German Jurgalski snorts into the phone, which does not stop ringing: “TV channels, newspapers, everyone wants something from me.” Because Jurgalski with his work pushed mountain legend Messner from his throne on the summit, Bergchronist and his team, spread all over the world, analyzed the climbs of the eight-thousanders in detail and discovered that many alpinists could not correctly identify the real summit.
Drone used
An example: more than 2,200 mountain climbers celebrated their eight thousandth success on Manaslu, until an Australian launched a drone at the summit in 2021 and realized that they were not at the highest point, but at the pre-summit. Similar misjudgments have also been documented in Dhaulagiri and Annapurna.
Messner was 65 meters and five meters short of height
Messner is also affected by the research, as he was 65 meters and five meters away from the true summit when he climbed Annapurna. Messner describes in several books how he reached the top together with Hans Kammerlander, the cloud cover lifted and they could see the Annapurna base camp.
However, based on digital data from the German Aerospace Center and photos of the summit, Jurgalski’s team determined that no base camp was visible from the summit.
Messner: 13 instead of 14 eight-thousanders
After the real eight-thousanders were reclassified, Messner was no longer on all 14, but ‘only’ on 13 eight-thousanders. That is why the Guinness Book of Records removed the world record title for him in the last edition. Until now, Messner was considered the first person to climb all 14 of the world’s eight-thousanders – and also the first person to do so without the aid of bottled oxygen.
Shitstorm
What followed was like a worldwide shitstorm against the mountain chronicler who brought the case to light: “I no longer have any friends in the entire German-speaking area because I apparently committed blasphemy,” Jurgalski describes to the “Krone”: “It wasn’t even I discovered Messner’s fault, but my colleague from France. But all the anger is directed at me. What can I do if someone makes a mistake that comes out after 35 years? I didn’t make that mistake.”
Messner reacted calmly to the withdrawal
Messner himself reacted calmly to losing two titles in the Guinness Book of Records this weekend. He told the German news agency: “I am not interested in whether my name is in the Guinness Book.” He has never claimed such a ‘world record’ in his life. “You can’t take away a record that I never claimed.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
