Reinhold Messner Climbs Everest Alone Without Oxygen

On 20 August 1980, Reinhold Messner reached the summit of Mount Everest completely alone and without carrying supplementary oxygen. The South Tyrolean climber had established a camp on the northern slopes during the Tibetan monsoon season, aiming to test whether human endurance could withstand high altitude without the apparatus traditional expeditions relied on. Leaving the northeast ridge above the North Col, he navigated into the steep gorge known as the Norton Couloir, creating a distinct path to the highest elevation in the world.

Messner left Advanced Base Camp on August 18 carrying a light pack. Within hours, climbing in the dark above 7,000 meters, he fell into a crevasse but managed to haul himself out and continue up the North Ridge. The next day he crossed the broad, avalanche-prone North Face to reach the Great Couloir, also called the Norton Couloir, and spent the night in a bivouac at about 8,200 meters. On August 20 he pushed up through the couloir to the summit, on the third day after leaving base camp. His only companion on the expedition, his girlfriend, waited below and was the sole witness to his effort.