Reinhold Messner at the Winter Outdoor Retailer

We often get caught up with the "who's hot" right now type of thing in climbing. And sometimes we forget that there are some old bold climbers out there that are not just still kicking, but are actively talking about climbing and climbing politics today.

Reinhold Messner was the first person to complete ascents of all 14 8,000 meter peaks. He is a prolific speaker and writer. And he was able to make some time to come out to the winter Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City last month.  In a question and answer session, Messner talks about the infamous Compressor Route on Cerro Torre, mountain preservation, wilderness experience, styles of climbing on 8000 meter peaks and the history of modern climbing.  This is an incredibly interesting video that was was produced at the event:



This video was made by through a collaboration of Chris Alstrin (Alstrin Films) and Ari Novak (Oracle Films) and was sponsored by the American Alpine Club.

--Jason D. Martin