Günther Messner

Günther Messner (18 May 1946 – 29 June 1970) was an Italian mountaineer from South Tyrol and the younger brother of Reinhold Messner. Günther climbed some of the most difficult routes in the Alps during the 1960s, and joined the Nanga Parbat-Expedition in 1970 just before the beginning of the expedition due to an opening within the team.

Günther was a member of a 1970 expedition to Nanga Parbat led by . Herrligkoffer had already organized six expeditions to Nanga Parbat and was said to be obsessed with the mountain after his half-brother, climber Willy Merkl, along with eight others, died on the peak in 1934.

On 26 June 1970 Reinhold, Günther and Gerhard were at Camp 5 watching for a signal rocket from base camp. Blue indicated good weather, red poor. Radio Peshawar reported good weather, so the expedition leader Herrligkoffer fired a rocket, but it exploded red, not blue. Consequently, Reinhold commenced a solo quick-and-light attack without gear shortly after 2 a.m. to avoid the presumed bad weather. Günther and Gerhard were still asleep. Reinhold had a difficult time finding his way up the Merkl Couloir by headlamp but emerged at dawn. At sunrise the next morning, Günther and were installing rope to aid Reinhold's return. Baur recounts the story that Günther did something impulsive in that he impatiently dumped the ropes they were fixing and sprinted into and then soloed the difficult Merkl Couloir. Günther and Reinhold reached the summit together late in the afternoon, when Günther started showing signs of exhaustion, possibly due to the effort he made in trying to catch up with Reinhold earlier in the day.

What happened next was a matter of controversy for many years. According to Reinhold Messner, the two brothers stayed near the summit overnight in an emergency bivouac (with only space blankets) close to the so-called Merkle-notch (named in honor of Herrligkoffer's half brother) since a night descent seemed impossible on the Rupal face due to Günther's exhaustion and altitude sickness. Reinhold states that Günther worried that reversing down the sheer Rupal Face would be dangerous. He says that Günther suggested a descent via the gentler Diamir Face.

The next morning, Reinhold recalls that Günther was delirious. Reinhold says that he started shouting for help at 6 a.m. and about three hours later, he saw and in the Merkl Couloir, heading for the summit. The two parties got to within about 100 yards of each other and with difficulty there was some communication. "Are you both OK?" Kuen yelled. "Yes! Everything's OK," Reinhold controversially replied. Unfortunately in a misunderstanding Kuen and Scholz continued to the summit. Reinhold and Günther were then forced to do a second bivouac at the Mummery Rib. By the next morning, the third day without shelter or water, Günther could only stumble slowly along. The multi-day descent had brought the two climbers to the limit of their physical and mental strength, and was to end in tragedy when Günther disappeared at the bottom of the Diamir face, most likely killed by an ice avalanche during the descent. Reinhold, walking ahead and facing exhaustion, severe frostbite and the loss of his brother, continued down along the Diamir valley until he found some local shepherds that helped him.

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