Since 1969, Reinhold Messner has gone on more than one hundred expeditions to the mountains and deserts of the earth. Recognized as one of the greatest mountaineers of all time, Messner does without expansion bolts, oxygen masks, or satellite phones. He has achieved a great many first ascents, conquered all fourteen of the worlds 8,000-meter peaks, succeeded in traversing Greenland, and provided an answer to the mystery of the Yeti. He is the author of Everest, The Crystal Horizon, Free Spirit, Antarctica, To the Top of the World, and All 14 Eight-Thousanders, among other titles. He lives with his family in the South Tyrol in Italy.