Montagna Magica

26/03/2025

"[..]The reasons for Piergiorgio’s unpopularity are plenty: its west face requires a full extra day of hiking to reach; due to its remoteness, volunteer-based rescue is next to impossible; and its cracks—unlike the clean splitters of the Franco-Argentina—are woefully discontinuous. The west face demands serious commitment and physical prowess to top out. Falling is frequently not a viable option.[..]"

out on my story about the 1st patagonian Cerro Piergiorgio Nw face direct route "Gringos Locos" (1000mt , difficulty 7b-5.12d/A3) historic achievement by the team of climbers composed by , & : they completed the visionary line originally attempted by Maurizio Giordani and Luca Maspes in 1995

link 🔗 in bio


🤙follow my page

🙏props to my dear editor, friend

26/03/2025

"[..]The reasons for Piergiorgio’s unpopularity are plenty: its west face requires a full extra day of hiking to reach; due to its remoteness, volunteer-based rescue is next to impossible; and its cracks—unlike the clean splitters of the Franco-Argentina—are woefully discontinuous. The west face demands serious commitment and physical prowess to top out. Falling is frequently not a viable option.[..]"

out on Climbing Magazine my story about the 1st patagonian Cerro Piergiorgio Nw face direct route "Gringos Locos" (1000mt , difficulty 7b-5.12d/A2) historic achievement by the team of climbers composed by Matteo Della Bordella , Dario Eynard and Mirco Grasso : they completed the visionary line originally attempted by Maurizio Giordani and Luca Maspes in 1995

read it here 🤙 https://www.climbing.com/news/first-ascent-patagonia-piergiorgio-west-face/

CAI - Club Alpino Italiano

With mandatory, sky-hook protected free climbing up to 5.12, ‘Gringos Locos’ is an apt route name for this first ascent in Patagonia.

22/03/2025

** GRINGOS LOCOS , 1000mt 7b/A2 Cerro Piergiorgio, Patagonia (1st attempted by Maurizio Giordani/Luca Maspes)

"[..]In mid-February , and arrived in the Valle del Rio Eléctrico and began the attempt. They managed to climb about the first half of the route and fix the ropes in 3 days, then the weather conditions worsened and the team returned to El Chalten waiting for a favorable weather window. Almost resigned, given the few days before the end of their time in Patagonia, a short good weather window popped out. The trio took advantage of it and sent the route in 3 days , summiting on February,28th at 3AM.
Having reached pitch 21, the highest point reached in 1995, they climbed a pitch of difficulty 6b with an artificial passage and joined the Via del Hermano (opened in 2008, Barmasse/Brenna), reaching the summit with 27 total pitches of maximum difficulty 7b+/A2, alternating free passages and sections on skyhooks. The protections were difficult to place, unreliable and mostly psychological: Matteo Della Bordella also commented that already on the first pitches the runouts were notable and falling was not an option[..]"

🚀coming soon on the full story by



[ph & vid ©️Matteo Della Bordella]

22/03/2025

** GRINGOS LOCOS , 1000mt 7b/A2 Cerro Piergiorgio, Patagonia (1st attempted by Maurizio Giordani/Luca Maspes)

"[..]In mid-FebruaryMatteo Della Bordella, Dario Eynard and Mirco Grasso arrived in the Valle del Rio Eléctrico and began the attempt. They managed to climb about the first half of the route and fix the ropes in 3 days, then the weather conditions worsened and the team returned to El Chalten waiting for a favorable weather window. Almost resigned, given the few days before the end of their time in Patagonia, a short good weather window popped out. The trio took advantage of it and sent the route in 3 days , summiting on February,28th at 3AM.
Having reached pitch 21, the highest point reached in 1995, they climbed a pitch of difficulty 6b with an artificial passage and joined the Via del Hermano (opened in 2008, Barmasse/Brenna), reaching the summit with 27 total pitches of maximum difficulty 7b+/A2, alternating free passages and sections on skyhooks. The protections were difficult to place, unreliable and mostly psychological: Matteo Della Bordella also commented that already on the first pitches the runouts were notable and falling was not an option[..]"

coming soon on Climbing

[ph & vid ©️Matteo Della Bordella]

08/02/2025

Being asked by the "holy and honorable " to contribute to their yearly #79 issue of one of the oldest, prestigious mountaineering publications in the world (1st issue..1929!!)- is an immense honour.

Receiving today the beautiful designed and carefully written copy, the letter - and scrolling through the index, the stories, the authors,contributors list made me feel moved and very, very proud.
My obituary is 3 pages at the very end

As I told many times, I wouldn't have wanted that my contribution was about the loss of two great humans but I didn't hesitate a second to accept this assignment 'cause writing about the story of and is one of the few ways to made their lives and their values remembered in the future and possibly a little help for their families , their childrens to know a little bit more about their fathers lost way too soon .

Thank you very much to all the Magazine staff, the Club President and a very special thank to my dear friend Ashish Chanda 🙏

And my eternal gratitude to the people whom encouraged me, trusted and pushed mBob A. Schelfhout Aubertijnreamed:
Bob A. Schelfhout Aubertijn Master,K2 Wizard and Michael Levys expert in the world;
Michael Levy Senior Editor (ah!a kid that asked a granddad like me to write for Rock&Ice, then Climbing mag) who first believed- well before the online translator were decent-in my writing skills in english ; he's the man who probably cried receiving my first draft who were like Neanderthal level of language knowledge and vocabulary
Katie Ives: not joking that writing her name a sense of huge respect,esteJim Herringtonar attitude fill me.
Jim Herrington - for his fashions and elegance skills , casually also on some visual thing and anyDougald MacDonaldrock or couisine
Dougald MacDonald AAJ editor in chief, what else?

26/10/2024

Chissà perché provo per Don un’ammirazione, affetto e stima assoluta..semplice: era pieno di “difetti”, ribelle, viveur, poco incline alla disciplina.. 😬

“ L’anno dopo venne a trovarmi in Italia, con un giovane amico conosciuto da poco, con cui era diretto alle Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Arrivarono dall’Inghilterra con due moto gigantesche e si installarono a casa nostra come se ci avessero abitato da sempre. Sembrava che non avesse fretta di arrampicare e preferiva contemplare le montagne standosene seduto tranquillamente a fumare in giardino, circondato da bottiglie di birra vuote.
,gli chiese mio marito. E aggiungeva preoccupato: ”Con quella pancia che hai!”. Don sorrideva malizioso socchiudendo gli occhietti celesti: ,diceva calmo calmo. Vennero a trovarlo Casimiro Ferrari e Daniele Ch***pa che lo aveva conosciuto in Patagonia, e ci fu un’epica festa in suo onore da Gigi Alippi, nel suo rifugio ai Resinelli, con asado e fiumi di vino. Noi ce ne andammo abbastanza tardi, la festa continuava ancora e questa volta Don era circondato da bicchierini di grappa vuoti. Il giorno dopo partirono di primo mattino per andare ad arrampicare al Sigaro. Fecero due cordate, Don col suo amico e mio marito con nostro figlio. Don si legò con la corda in vita senza imbragatura, accese una sigaretta, ripose il pacchetto sotto il berretto da dove l’aveva preso, e attaccò la parete con la cicca tra le labbra. Aveva sudato e sbuffato per salire fino alla base del Sigaro, ma non appena mise le mani sulla roccia si trasformò, divenne agile e leggero e salì con la grazia di un ballerino adolescente. Partirono il giorno dopo per le Lavaredo, con le grosse moto rombanti e la promessa di tornare a trovarci l’anno successivo.[..]”
(Mirella Tenderini)

Donald “Don” Desbrow Whillans (1933-1985) è stato uno dei più grandi alpinisti britannici del
dopoguerra. Formatosi sulle basse strutture di
arenaria del Derbyshire, balzò alla cronaca al-
pinistica con le sue scalate nel massiccio del
Monte Bianco in cordata con Joe Brown e
Chris Bonington (parete Ovest del Dru, Pilone
Centrale di Frêney, parete Ovest della Blaitiè-
re). In seguito la sua attività lo portò dall'Hi-
malaya (tentativi a vie nuove all'Everest, *prima
ascensione della Sud dell'Annapurna*) alla Pa-
tagonia (prime ascensioni alle Torri del Paine e
all'Aiguille Poincenot), alle Ande argentine, in
Yosemite e altre parti del mondo.

16/10/2024

I feel truly happy to know that my dear friend Louis Rousseau and Adam Bielecki came back safe and sound from the awesome Karakoram peaks they’d chosen to explore and climb.
Even if they had to stop their climb on their main “goal” mountain , they climbed beautiful peaks.
Here’s the incredible Zang Sar !
can’t wait to hear from them .
😂edit : Louis contacted me while boarding his flight from Islamabad..I wrote him “wow that ridge pic!!” and he replied “Ohhh we have more than that believe me. We could literally see through the fu***ng mountain because the ridge was too thin. I will show you. That was unbelievable!! We see through the mountain by holes!!!! 😳”
[ph from Adam stories,Zang Sar,Louis in action on a delicate steep ridge ,Adam&Louis on top of Zang Sar]

12/10/2024

Grazie !
ragazzo.stefano ci ha portato sulle grandi pareti di mezzo mondo e ci ha raccontato il suo percorso di esplorazione e alpinismo pulito assieme a silvia.loreggian
come ha scritto l’amico luca_calvi_traduttore
“due veri alpinisti,da grandi imprese”
GRAZIE a level24climbing , molto più di una splendida, grande palestra di indoor climbing,yoga,pilates per aver permesso quello che spero sia l’inizio di tanti eventi a Bologna
a grivel che generosamente ha distribuito i suoi materiali in una lotteria premi
_elbec_ con i suoi caldi prodotti
antiga_edizioni pedizioni i cui libri theclimbers_book e la serie Dolomiti itinerari e backpacking hanno riscosso successo
il lavoro instancabile a grafica,regia audio video di binarysystem.inc
i meravigliosi video e foto col drone su che presto diventeranno un film di bigrockmediahouse
GRAZIE A TUTTI I PRESENTI !❤️‍🔥💪

11/10/2024

silvia.loreggian & ragazzo.stefano si rilassano in attesa del Talk di questa sera sulla via di 24mt level24climbing
Parleremo della prima storica solitaria di Stefano su una delle vie più tecniche al mondo ..mentre Silvia scalava il K2 !
vi aspettiamo alle 21 ! link in bio
grivel _elbec_ antiga_edizioni pedizioni
regia .inc conduce federbernardi
ph/video bigrockmediahouse

08/10/2024

ragazzo.stefano TALK A BOLOGNA!
“[..]Un conto è fare una solitaria in Dolomiti o il Monte Bianco. Partire così, da solo, per la California,con mille dubbi e poi riuscire a farlo, è stata una gran soddisfazione. Per quanto riguarda il lato tecnico le scalate allo Yosemite sono state varie tra cui la solitaria al Nose, 2-3 settimane piene. Ho fatto anche altre solitarie, provavo mezza via e poi mi calavo per andare a provare ancora[..]
Il rapporto con la comunità di Yosemite è andato molto bene. Un po' si sa, è un luogo che ha questa aura un po' magica .. [..] ti rendi conto di quanto sono aperti..mentre cammini con una corda in mano e qualcuno ti vede , ti ferma e ti dice: ma sei andato ad arrampicare? Dove sei andato? Cosa hai fatto?
[..]Quando ho scalato il Nose in solitaria sono andato lì da solo, ho iniziato a conoscere gente, poi uno parla con l’altro e pian piano tutti sapevano che dovevo andare a fare il Nose in solitaria, quando camminavo in giro mi dicevano “ma tu sei l'italiano che deve provare il Nose?” una bella differenza se guardiamo il corrispettivo italiano, [..] dove ci si limita al “Ciao” quando va bene. A Yosemite senti il feeling degli americani che sono sempre gasati in tutto [..]
Cosa che invece qua in Italia non esiste, un po' perché la gente è invidiosa, un po' perché tutti si sentono di essere padroni di tutto...E questo è un peccato, perché alla fine come tanti abbiamo iniziato ad arrampicare perché non ci piaceva la vita da persone diciamo, “impostate”, borghesi.. arrampicare è una cosa, almeno, da chiamiamola da ribelli, no? Siamo tutti nella stessa onda, siamo tutti nella stessa barca ed è figo che sia così. Però in Italia purtroppo.. non è la stessa cosa.”
Vi aspettiamo Venerdì 11 Ottobre alle 21 alla LEVEL 24
registrati: https://allevents.in/casalecchio%20di%20reno/800027215054420
In collaborazione con Grivel che metterà in palio prodotti tra i pre-registrati all’evento , ELBEC con le sue calde calzature & accessori in lana merinos
Antiga Edizioni con i suoi splendidi libri a prezzo scontato tra cui theclimbers_book ed.italiana ; regia .inc
[ ph 1.Evento 11.10, 2-.Stefano su Eternal Flame bigrockmediahouse ]

07/10/2024

just received the beautiful 360pag American Alpine Journal 2024 Annuary - which includes my account for the Gasherbrum IV South East Ridge attempt by Dmitry Golovchenko and Sergei Nilov ; sadly ,as many of you may know, both these great climbers died there : Dmitry during the attempt on August 2023,Sergei last summer trying to recover the body of his rope brother.
The only thing that I could do, after the long and painful grief for the loss of these friends, was remembering their incredible life ,writing at my best.
Thank you,once again, Dougald MacDonald for giving me this opportunity.
I would like also thank so much Victor Gorlov and his wife Natalia Zotova for their invaluable support and contribution.

[Dmitry and Sergei will also be remembered in a long story that will be published on a very important printed magazine next year]

02/10/2024

Cesare Maestri was born in Trento, 95 years ago today . As a boy he climbed house walls,poles in his neighborhood .In 1943, a death warrant was issued for Toni by the German Occupying Authority and the family fled to his wife’s hometown of Ferrara. When the Fascist police there were instructed to arrest Toni, the family returned to Trento and the young Cesare joined partisans fighting the Germans.
After the war, he started his incredibly climbing career. He climbed about 3,500 routes in his life, a third of them solo. The Dolomites were his stage: In 1950, at the age of 21, he burst onto the scene by soloing Via Preuss at Campanile Basso. His first solo ascents of the Solda-Conforto Route (5.9 A2, 650 meters) on the Marmolada and the Guides’ Route on the Crozzon di Brentawas, both in 1953, were world renowned. He down soloed routes up to grade VI UIAA (approximately 5.10) on Crozzon di Brenta and Sass Maor. In 1954 he completed a solo traverse of the Ambiez-Tuckett (16 summits in 18 hours), with difficulties up to grade VI. He made a solo winter ascent of the Southwest Ridge of the Matterhorn. The list goes on, along with a long series of difficult rescues of injured climbers or even body recovery he did with bravery and dedication,often never spoken or little known by public.
Tragically, the Cerro Torre controversy entangled Maestri like a spider caught in his own web.
I myself was a staunch opponent of Maestri’s Torre claims. But the mudslinging by many critics often went too far, with some detractors often exaggerating his transgressions and crossing the boundaries of common sense and respect.
“I have always been an advocate of the principle according to which every mountaineer should be free to go to the mountains as he pleases: day or night, with pegs or without, to find God or deny him, for comfort or despair. By doing so we would have as many forms of mountaineering as there are people who go to the mountains and no single form would preclude or lessen any of the others.“
[ph Jim Herrington for his theclimbers_book / Cesare]