10/08/2026
On this day, August 10, 1975, Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner and Austrian climber Peter Habeler reached the summit of Gasherbrum I, becoming the first climbers to ascend an 8,000-meter peak in true alpine style.
Standing at 8,080 meters (26,509 feet) on the Pakistan–China border, Gasherbrum I is the world’s 11th-highest mountain. Messner and Habeler climbed its northwest route as a two-person team, without bottled oxygen, fixed ropes or prepared camps.
Their ascent marked a major turning point in high-altitude mountaineering. Until then, successful ascents of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks had relied largely on large expedition-style teams, extensive equipment and established camps.
Messner and Habeler demonstrated that an 8,000-meter mountain could instead be tackled with a small team, minimal equipment and a fast, self-sufficient approach. Their achievement helped pave the way for the modern alpine-style climbing of the Himalayas and Karakoram.
Gasherbrum I had first been climbed in 1958 by an American expedition.
Photo: Reinhold Messner/IG
