New Delhi (AFP)

The conquest of 14 mountains over 8,000 meters high, which the Nepalese Nirmal Purja completed Tuesday in a record time of seven months, gave rise in the 1980s to one of the most legendary rivalries of mountaineering for this "crown of the Himalayas".

At that time, competitors rushed to become the first mountaineer to go to the top of each of the "8,000", all located between Nepal, Pakistan and China. But the final sprint will be played between two men: the Italian Reinhold Messner and the Polish Jerzy Kukuczka.

In this twentieth century, the era of conquest of the highest virgin peaks of the planet is over. The epic of the "first 8.000", opened in 1950 with the roped of the French Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal at the top of Annapurna, culminating in the conquest of Everest in 1953, ended in 1964 when an expedition Chinese overcomes Shishapangma.

The Himalayans of the years 1970-1980 thus seek to write the history by resorting to variations (without additional oxygen, opening of new ways, winter ascents, etc.) or with challenges. They set themselves for example to climb all the peaks above the arbitrary bar of 8,000 meters, or climb the highest peak of each of the seven continents.

In the race for the 14 "8.000", the Tyrolean child Reinhold Messner, beard provided and thick wavy hair, has in the early 1980s several steps ahead of his rivals. Not yet in his forties, he is already a legend in the middle.

Since his first ascent in 1970 of an "8.000", the Nanga Parbat, a tragic race where he loses his blood brother and roped Günther, the icy and inhospitable summits of the Himalayas give him one by one.

The one who made his apprenticeship on the vertical walls of the Dolomites multiplies the exploits. He is the first to impose himself in the Himalayas on the systematic discipline of the "alpine style", a practice with total commitment (minimal equipment, no use of carriers, oxygen in bottles and fixed ropes. -installées).

In 1978, in line with the Austrian Peter Habeler, Messner made the first climb of Everest without breathing aid, a feat that many thought humanly impossible at such an altitude. In the "zone of death", atmospheric pressure drops and oxygen is more rare, pushing the body to the extreme limits of suffering and fatigue.

Mountaineering is an "apology for the useless act," said 75-year-old Reinhold Messner in a recent documentary. "If I do something that is not useful, it's because I consider that life is globally absurd because it leads to death."

- 'You are beautiful' -

But since 1979 and his rise of Lhotse, the Polish Jerzy Kukuczka has launched at the pace of the pursuit of the Italian, four years his eldest, and chained the peaks at a rate indefatigable.

"Jurek", his nickname, is one of the giants of the "Polish school" of mountaineering, which lives at this time his golden age. For those hard-core men and women who have made their way up the Tatra Mountains, mountaineering is one of the only ways to cross the Iron Curtain of communist Poland and enjoy freedom.

With few means, the Poles make ends meet to finance their expeditions. Many of them do high-flying work on factory chimneys, which are better remunerated. They make their own material, which they then sell in the Himalayas at the end of the season.

By his training, Kukuczka has in his backpack a key asset against Messner: winter climbs, which the Italian does not risk. In 1985, he succeeded the first winter of Dhaulagiri and, in the same stride, offers Cho Oyu.

When the spring of 1986 opens, Kukuczka has triumphed on 10 of the 14 summits, Messner by 12. The crampons are spinning in the snow and ice, but the Pole will not be able to catch up.

From the flanks of Manaslu in the fall, he learns that Reihnold Messner has reached his fourteenth summit, Lhotse, becoming the first person to perform the 14 "8.000".

The Italian took sixteen years to complete this challenge, without ever resorting to additional oxygen - Kukuczka used it once, on Everest. This performance made him one of the most famous mountaineers of the twentieth century.

Jerzy Kukuczka will close the loop in 1987, with Annapurna and Shishapangma, in just under eight years. "You're not number two, you're beautiful," Messner admirably wrote to him.

Two years later, Jerzy Kukuczka will die on Lhotse, swallowed by the mountain like many mountaineers of his generation.

© 2019 AFP