Aftab ur Rehman Rana, Managing Director of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), recently welcomed legendary mountaineer Reinhold Messner — the first person in history to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks — along with his wife Diane Messner and Liver Khan. The meeting focused on developing sustainable, eco-friendly adventure and mountain tourism in Pakistan.
The meeting took place during a 12-day visit Messner made to Gilgit-Baltistan in September 2026, timed around his 82nd birthday. The trip carried significant personal weight: Messner revisited a rock along the Karakoram Highway near Thalichy overlooking Nanga Parbat — the same spot where he and his brother Günther first saw the mountain in 1970, before an expedition during which Günther was killed in an avalanche on the descent, and Messner himself lost seven toes to frostbite surviving it. His birthday celebration in Islamabad drew the Italian and German ambassadors to Pakistan, along with prominent Pakistani mountaineers.
During the same visit, Messner delivered a pointed warning on glacial melt in the region, describing Gilgit-Baltistan’s peaks as “more valuable than oil reservoirs” and cautioning that some snow-covered mountains may survive only another 10 to 15 years without stronger environmental management. That statement gives real weight to the sustainability themes raised in his PTDC meeting — this isn’t abstract eco-tourism branding, but a warning from someone who has tracked measurable change across the mountains he’s climbed for over five decades.
The conversation reaffirmed a shared vision: celebrating the beauty of Pakistan’s mountains, protecting their fragile ecosystems, and building responsible tourism opportunities that benefit local communities while drawing adventurers worldwide.
“Meeting a visionary who has dedicated his life to exploring and understanding the mountains was truly a memorable experience,” said Rana. “His remarkable journey reminds us that the mountains are not merely destinations to conquer, but precious natural treasures to respect, protect, and preserve for future generations.”
Messner’s relationship with Pakistan’s mountains spans decades beyond Nanga Parbat — he made the first solo ascent of an 8,000-metre peak there in 1978, and climbed Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak in 1982 alongside noted Pakistani mountaineer Nazir Sabir. Over the years, he has also helped establish schools in the Diamer valleys for local communities, including one named for his late brother.
As a gesture of Pakistani hospitality, Rana presented the Messners with traditional souvenirs.
PTDC expressed hope that the encounter could pave the way for greater international collaboration in sustainable mountain tourism, helping position Pakistan as a leading global destination for responsible adventure travel — a goal that carries added urgency given Messner’s own warnings about how much time may remain to protect the mountains that made his career.