All 14 Eight-Thousanders First Climbed
Reinhold Messner became the first person to climb all 14 peaks above 8,000 meters
October 16, 1986
The Fourteen Giants
There are 14 mountains on Earth that rise above 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) — all of them in the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges of Asia. They include Everest, K2, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat, Annapurna, Gasherbrum I, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum II, and Shishapangma. All of them sit in the Death Zone — the altitude above which no human body can acclimatize and survive long-term. Climbing even one of them is among the most dangerous things a person can do. Climbing all 14 was considered the ultimate mountaineering quest of the 20th century.
Reinhold Messner: The First to Complete the Quest
Italian climber Reinhold Messner became the first person to climb all 14 eight-thousanders on October 16, 1986, when he summited Lhotse. He had begun the quest in 1970 with Nanga Parbat and completed all 14 without ever using supplemental oxygen — a stunning double achievement. His 1980 solo ascent of Everest without oxygen was part of this broader campaign. Messner's completion of the 14 summits defined mountaineering ambition for a generation. Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka finished just over a year later, in 1987, and became the second person to achieve the feat.
The Modern Race
Since Messner, over 40 climbers have completed all 14 eight-thousanders. The quest has grown more competitive, with mountaineers racing to complete it in record time. Nepali climber Nirmal Purja completed all 14 in an astonishing 6 months and 6 days in 2019, shattering the previous record of nearly 8 years. More recently, climbers have done it in winter — when the conditions are far more deadly. The 14 eight-thousanders represent the Everest of mountaineering ambition itself: a checklist written at the extremes of altitude, endurance, and human courage.