Simone Moro


Simone Moro (born 27 October 1967 in Bergamo) is an Italian alpinist known for having made first winter ascents of four of the fourteen eight-thousanders: Shishapangma in 2005,[1][2] Makalu in 2009,[3][4] Gasherbrum II in 2011,[5][6] and Nanga Parbat in 2016.[7][8] He has also summited Everest four times, in 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2010.

Simone Moro
Personal information
NationalityItalian
BornOctober 27, 1967
Bergamo
OccupationAlpinist
Updated on 20 January 2020.

Moro is also an experienced helicopter pilot.[9] In 2013, he and two other rescue experts carried out the world's highest long-line rescue operation on a helicopter, on Lhotse, at 7800m.[10][11] On 12 November 2015 he set a new flight altitude world record in an ES 101 Raven turboshaft-powered helicopter (6705m).[12]

Early life

Born in Bergamo, in northern Italy, to middle-class parents, Moro grew up in the borough of Valtesse and was actively encouraged by his father in his passion for the mountains. His father was an accomplished climber and cyclist and also fostered a lively and international environment around him. He started climbing on the Presolana and other massifs of the Bergamasque Alps at the age of 13. He completed his university studies and graduated cum laude in 2003 at the age of thirty-five.

Mountain climbing career

Moro began his climbing activity on the Grigne near his home city. His father was his first mentor, and later Alberto Cosonni and Bruno Tassi. At that time he was primarily involved in rock climbing, an activity he has never given up. In 1992 he participated in his first Himalayan expedition, to Mount Everest. One year later Moro climbed Aconcagua. He made expeditions to other mountains in the 1990s, including Cerro Mirador and Makalu in 1993; Shishapangma and Lhotse in 1994, Kangchenjunga in 1995. In 1996 Moro climbed the west wall of Fitz Roy (3341 m in Patagonia) in 25 hours from the base to the summit and back to the base. In the same year, he climbed Shishapangma South (8008 m) without oxygen in 27 hours using skis in the descent from 7100 meters. In 1997 he summited Lhotse. In Winter 1997 he attempted the South face of Annapurna. During this attempt, his climbing companions Anatoli Boukreev and Dimitri Sobolev died in an avalanche. He tried Everest again in 1998; summited four peaks Pik Lenin (7134 m), Peak Korzhenevskaya (7105 m), Ismoil Somoni Peak (7495 m, formerly known as Pik Kommunizma), Pik Khan Tengri (7010 m) with young Kazakhstan guide Denis Urubko; then summited Everest with him in 2000[13] and Marble Wall in winter 2001.

In 2002 he summited three peaks: Mount Vinson, Cho Oyu[14] and Everest;[15] summited three peaks: Broad Peak,[16] Elbrus and Kilimanjaro in 2003, summited Baruntse along a new route and tried Shishapangma and Annapurna in 2004; Batura and Batokshi peaks in 2005, Broad Peak in winter 2006 and 2007. In 2005 he achieved the first winter summit of Shishapangma, with Piotr Morawski.[1] In 2006 he completed a solo south–north traverse of Everest descending from the top in five hours.[17] In 2008 he made (with Hervè Barmasse) the first ascent of Beka Brakai Chhok (6950 m Karakorum). The climbing was in pure alpine style and in 43 hours.[18]

In January 2009 Moro made the first winter ascent of Makalu with Denis Urubko,[4] and in February 2011 the first winter ascent of Gasherbrum II with Denis Urubko and Cory Richards.[6] In April 2013, along with Ueli Steck and Jonathan Griffith, he was involved in a brawl with a group of Sherpas, with the incident being reported worldwide.[19][20][21][22][23] In February 2016, he completed the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat with Alex Txikon and Ali Sadpara.[24] In February 2018, he completed the first winter ascent of Peak Pobeda, Sakha along with fellow Italian mountaineer Tamara Lunger.[25]

Rescue missions in Nepalese Himalayas

In May 2001 he tried to traverse Everest–Lhotse: during an attempt on the wall of Lhotse at 8000 metres he abandoned the climb to search, rescue and save English alpinist Tom Moores. Moro was a recipient of the Fair Play Pierre de Coubertin trophy from UNESCO,[26] the Civilian Gold Medal from Italian president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi[27] and the David A. Sowles Memorial Award from the American Alpine Club.[28] Tom Moores recalls his meeting with Moro this way:

On the way down we met Simone who had unfortunately failed to get to the summit because of the energy he had used rescuing me. I felt and still feel very guilty, but Simone who is a very humble man shrugged his shoulders and said, "It is no problem. In the future, I can still climb and you can still climb and that's more important than any summit." His sentiment is a lesson to us all, I believe it’s a perfect example of the true climbing spirit. I will never be able to thank him enough for what he did for me, he is an amazing man and a real hero.

— Tom Moores, 2001[29]

In 2009, he bought a helicopter with his own money to carry out search and rescue operations in the Nepalese Himalayas for Nepalese people.[11][30] He has piloted the helicopter several times to rescue alpinists, sherpas, trekkers and people in remote areas.[11][31]

Charitable work

In 2003, Moro projected and financed a school for 396 Sherpa children in the Nepalese village of Syadul. The objective of the project, carried with an Italian foundation, was to prevent early school leaving in the area.[32][33] The school was opened in 2005. It is located in a village a thousand meters above sea level and three hours from the nearest road.[34]

Near the Nanga Parbat base camp, he financed, built and donated to the Pakistani district of Gilgit Baltistan a small masonry building for local shepherds and a small hospital in the village of Ser.[35]

Eight-thousanders climbed

Bibliography
  • Moro, Simone (2003). Cometa sull'Annapurna (in Italian). Corbaccio. ISBN 9788879725903.
  • Moro, Simone (2008). 8000 metri di vita (in Italian). Grafica e Arte. ISBN 9788872012727.
  • Moro, Simone (2016). Nanga (in Italian). Rizzoli. ISBN 9788817090230.

References
  1. "Moro and Morawski first winter ascent of Shisha Pangma!". planetmountain.com. 14 January 2005. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  2. "Simone y Piotr coronan el Shisha" (in Spanish). desnivel.com. 14 January 2005. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  3. Dougald MacDonald. "Moro, Urubko Summit Makalu in Winter". climbing.com. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  4. "Simone Moro and Denis Urubko: Makalu first winter ascent". planetmountain.com. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  5. Daniel Starr (2 February 2011). "First Winter Ascent of an 8000m Peak in Pakistan". alpinist.com. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  6. Vinicio Stefanello (2 February 2011). "Gasherbrum II, historic first winter ascent: summit for Moro, Urubko and Richards!". planetmountain.com. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  7. Szczepanski, Dominik. "Nanga Parbat zdobyta w zimie po raz pierwszy!". Sport.pl.
  8. "Alpinismo, impresa su Nanga Parbat".
  13. "Moro and Urubku reach the summit of Everest". planetmountain.com. 26 May 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  14. "Cho Oyu summit for Moro, Nicolini and Mezzanotte". planetmountain.com. 9 May 2002. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  15. "Curnis and Moro summit Everest". planetmountain.com. 24 May 2002. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  16. "Broad Peak success for Moro, Ochoa, Lafaille, Viesturs". planetmountain.com. 16 July 2003. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  17. "Himalaya: Simone Moro compie la traversata dell'Everest da Sud a Nord" (in Italian). planetmountain.com. 20 May 2006. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  18. Lindsay Griffin (11 August 2008). "History and Details from Beka Brakai Chhok". alpinist.com. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  19. Tim Neville (2 May 2013). "Brawl On Everest: Ueli Steck's Story". outsideonline.com. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  20. "Ueli Steck Attacked on Everest". rockandice.com. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  21. "Everest: Moro, Steck and Griffith attacked at 7200m". planetmountain.com. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  22. Manoj Kumar Shrestha (28 April 2013). "Three foreigners thrashed at Everest base camp". thehimalayantimes.com. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  23. "Everest 2013". simonemoro.com. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  24. Nanga Parbat: summit and first winter ascent by Simone Moro, Ali Sadpara and Alex Txikon
  25. https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/alpinism/simone-moro-tamara-lunger-first-winter-ascent-pik-pobeda-siberia.html
  26. "Fair Play award winners". fairplayinternational.org. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  27. "Moro Simone - Medaglia d'oro al valor civile" (in Italian). quirinale.it. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  28. "David A. Sowles Memorial Award". americanalpineclub.org. Archived from the original on 28 May 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  29. K2News.com, Lhotse 2001: Gary Pfisterer and the International Expedition
  32. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-03-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  33. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-03-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  36. "Everest, ascents from Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner to Silvio Mondinelli, Abele Blanc and Simone Moro". planetmountain.com. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
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