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The mountain needs to remain a wild place

14.05.2012

“Mountains should be left wild. Only in this way we can guarantee the future of alpinism and mountains.” This was basically the conclusion of the round table Quo CLIMBis, which took place on Sunday, 6 May 2012 at Castle Firmian. On invitation of the Messner Mountain Museum, world renowned mountaineers met in Bolzano, South Tyrol, to discuss together about the future of the high mountains and alpinism. As host of this event, Reinhold Messner did not want to focus on alpine techniques or the egoistic will of the alpine elites who want to protect this space in order to realize their own adventures there. The discussion dealt with questions like: What is real alpinism? Who can decide on who forms part of the elites of alpinists? How can we protect the alpine area and who is responsible for it? On the podium were Hervè Barmasse, Heinz Mariacher, Hanspeter Eisendle, Albert Precht, Denis Urubko, Roger Schäli and Reinhold Messner.

Photo (c) Francisco Antunes / Flickr