It is May 8, 1978, around 1 pm: Two men, wrapped in thick down suits, crawl on all fours the last few meters to the summit of Mount Everest. They live - contrary to expectations. The two are Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. They were the first humans to reach the highest mountain in the world without additional oxygen.
Doctors had warned them against it, they would definitely get permanent damage from the lack of oxygen: It was said that their brain and tissue cells would die by the low partial pressure at high altitudes. An ascent of Mount Everest without oxygen bottles is impossible for the human body. But curiosity and ambition drove the two mountaineers. Her summit success went down in the history books.
That's 40 years ago, back then they were the only expedition on the mountain. Hundreds of people climb Everest every year. Peter Habeler remembers the moment when he stood at the highest point of the earth and tells how mountain sports have changed since then.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Habeler, you have to recount every year of your ascent of Mount Everest without additional oxygen. Does not that annoy you?
Peter Habeler: When we did that in 1978, we never expected that there would be such a long-lasting hype. But that's nothing negative - it often facilitates access to people. If I'm able to motivate others to mountaineering on the subject of Everest, that's fun.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You really did not think that there would be a hype if you were the first people without oxygen bottles to climb the highest mountain in the world?
Habeler: We are not heroes. Reinhold and I both grew up in the Alps and have done many tours together before. We were well prepared, we were fast, and we were lucky. In addition, I had the best rope partner at that time and we wanted to find out together if that was possible. Without Reinhold I probably would not have made the Everest.
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SPIEGEL ONLINE: Now you speak in the highest tones of Reinhold Messner. But after the ascent you both did not have much contact.
Habeler: I do not want to go into that. The conflicts we have been told are ridiculous. Even in a marriage, there is an argument, that is not a scandal. I stick to it: Reinhold was the best partner I could imagine.
DPA
Reinhold Messner (left) and Peter Habeler in 1975
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Because he was so good?
Habeler: In a roped party, both are not always the same. Sometimes Messner was the stronger, sometimes me. It is a give and take. When Reinhold went ahead, I knew he was not making a mistake. That calmed me down. And when I went ahead, Reinhold knew I was not making a mistake.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Last year you climbed the Eiger north face with the 27-year-old professional climber David Lama - with 74 years. What did you say?
Habeler: David is one of the best in the world. With him it was similar to Reinhold: I knew that does not fly down. That's why I was not scared. I needed someone to precede and secure the difficult parts of the Eiger North Face, because of course I no longer have that youthful lightness and technical ability.
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Mount Everest then and now: the roof of the worldSPIEGEL ONLINE: Doing such tours in your mid-70s - you have to be very fit physically.
Habeler: I am one of the few Everest groups of my generation that is still actively climbing. Reinhold does not do much, too, because his toes were amputated. But I'm lucky: My knees are still okay, and I still have the same weight as 17 years. I train a lot and always have a new goal in mind. Then everything is easier.
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Peter Habeler:
The goal is the summit
Tyrolia Verlag; 208 pages; 24,90 Euro
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SPIEGEL ONLINE: You have written a book entitled "The summit is the goal". Did this idea accompany you in 1978 on the last meters to the summit of Everest?
Habeler: Of course, the summit is the goal. The closer you get to him, the more you want to make it.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: And if you did it then?
Habeler: Is that an indescribable feeling. Effort coupled with luck. It's all about emotions. At 8,850 meters, the subconscious takes over. But luck did not last long. I could only remember that we also have to go down the whole way and wanted to get off as soon as possible.
AFP
The highest mountain in the world is a long-awaited destination for many
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You had just a newborn son and were just married. Were you afraid of not coming back to the family alive?
Habeler: Thoughts of coming home only when you are passive - as well as fear. When I'm in the tent and storming outside and raging, I think I really want to come home. At the moment of climbing, however, every thought is focused on the next step: hopefully the snow will not break, hopefully the weather will last. Since I have no capacity to think at home.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Today, there is almost always the possibility to call home. Even in Everest base camp at 5350 meters.
Habeler: That's crazy. In the meantime a lot has been commercialized. At present, about 1300 people are in the base camp. If there is a weather window, all break up at the same time. Anyone who is fit and puts down 40,000 to 100,000 euros for the expedition can make it to Everest - with oxygen bottles and fixed ropes, of course. We were the only expedition back then and were able to work our way up the mountain for three months.
Ralf Dujmovits
Long lines on Everest: Hundreds try it every year
SPIEGEL ONLINE: So long?
Habeler: To acclimatise us. Otherwise the ascent without additional oxygen would not have been possible. There are not many climbers left who acclimatize properly. Today, people want to hit an eight-thousander in three weeks. That is madness.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: So has mountain climbing changed?
Habeler: We still had white spots on the map, there were still Erstbesteigungen possible. Today it hardly exists anymore, it is more difficult to get attention. Now professional climbers try to stand out over other extremes, climb particularly fast or unsecured. That's another risk awareness. And many just want to stand at the highest point of the earth. Where that leads, I can not say. All I know is that the mountains do not tolerate so many people.
Video: Reinhold Messner - A life between highs and lows
MIRROR TV
On Tuesday at 8.15 pm, the station "Servus.TV" will broadcast the documentary "Bergwelten - Mount Everest - The last step". The film documents the ascent of 1978, among other things, with original film footage from back then. Reinhold Messner directed and is played by his son Simon. Habeler is played by his friend Philipp Brugger.