I'm a climber and a sober member of AA. AA and climbing mountains are my two private passions.
As much as anyone learns or achieves anything with complete independence, one could "learn the ropes" of climbing/mountaineering alone, but significant risk accompanies the trials and errors of that type of education. I've learned how to navigate the mountains and my sobriety with the help of experienced guides... in both cases, I've probably been spared considerable pain.
An aside, Reinhold Messner, and other mountaineers (like Ueli Steck, who you alluded to) have been free soloing mountains like the Eiger and the 8,000 M peaks in the Himalaya and Karakoram since the mid-70's... Free soloing (without oxygen, or fixed ropes) and climbing mountains alpine style (unaided by porters/sherpa, without fixed ropes, usually without oxygen), has always been risky and the more heinous the ascent, the greater the risk of serious injury/death. In the old days, we had crappy climbing tools and bad clothing and 200 man expeditions... no thank you!