Posted: May 01, 2009 10:41 am EDT
(MountEverest.net) Only Italian Simone Moro could break the Polish spell of the 80s, but not until 2005 with Shisha Pangma. "Luck," said his critics - until he repeated with Makalu this winter.

Simone returned home to a chain of dramatic events. His Shisha climbing partner was lost on Dhaulagiri and an earth quake struck his country.

ExWeb caught up with Simone Moro in US this week. Here goes the first part of the interview, check back in tomorrow Saturday for the second and final part.

ExWeb: You climbed Shisha Pangma with Piotr Morawski, who died in an accident early this month. How do you feel about it?

Simone: I'm sad, really and deeply sad about Piotr. We were friends, we did a historic summit together and discussed future projects. He visited me twice in Bergamo with his wife, stayed a few days and we shared our mutual love of active life, mountains, adventure and explorations.

I got word about his accident when I was relaxing with my wife by the Red Sea after Makalu. It shocked me. I've lost so many friends in Himalaya in the last two years: Karl Unterkircher on Nanga; Inaki Ochoa on Annapurna; Martin Minarik on Annapurna; Kristian Kuntner on Annapurna; Sergio Dalla Longa on Dhaulagiri and many others. It's unbelievable...

More than 25 friends of mine perished on the high mountains since the start of my career. In Piotr we lost a very talented young Himalayan climber, one of the few not just aiming to climb all the 14 peaks above 8000 meters along the normal route and in the normal season as 90% of our colleagues sadly are doing. We will miss him a lot :-(

ExWeb: After your return from Makalu, Italy was hit by a big earthquake. Were you affected?

Simone: I learned about the Abruzzo earthquake by the same time I received the news about Piotr's death.

The quake was a real disaster. Thank God the Abruzzo's are mountain people (on the Appennini mountain range) and very strong and hard workers. They wasted no time to begin rescues, arrange camps, tents and other facilities for survival; and to think about the future.

All Italians were shocked but we reacted in an incredible way. Thousands of rescuers were active within only a few hours in the devastated area and everything was organized in record time. This is a hidden side of Italy that the world doesn't know about. We are more than Ferrari, pasta, pizza, arts and culture. We are also a people with big heart, muscle and brain. And we are the country of Cassin, Bonatti, Messner and many other top mountaineers :-) None of my friends were in the quake but some were involved in the rescues.

ExWeb: On to Makalu: second virgin winter ascent of an 8000er - how does it feel, Simone?

Simone: I feel proud and extremely happy. After Wielicki's Lhotse in 1988 (Dec 31) only two first winter climbs have been realized and I was part of both, in 2-man teams. So few successes in 21 years show that these are no simple tasks.

Makalu was my 40th expedition, and the 10th in winter. Analyzing my climbing career it is quite easy to recognize that the alpinism I tried to do has been quite far from the usual way. Not better or worse; simply different. I was inspired by great alpinists of different disciplines. This made me into an all-round mountaineer which in turn allowed me a broad range in choosing my projects.

ExWeb: Any scars?

Simone: No, thank God. Only a small frostbite on my right foot that is completely healed. I'm back to training and climbing.

ExWeb: What do you think that Denis and you made right?

Simone: We used the right strategy and style. Acclimatizing far away, without seeing the mountain, gave us the possibility to be physically ready for the main climb and mentally motivated to desire the Makalu view.

Staying too long in the same valley and BC brings on boredom and eventually rejection of the mountain that you are attempting. In our case, as soon as we arrived in BC we were basically ready to begin the summit push. This made it possible to grab the chance when a good weather window arrived.

ExWeb: Clearly nicer to acclimatize around Khumbu - would you recommend it to others?

Simone: For sure! This was key in our strategy. Acclimatize far from the mountain you have in your mind, is much better than to acclimatize on it. It might seem more expensive but its well worth the investment because you increase the chance for success and keep motivation high.

ExWeb: What gear did you use (tents, rope, climbing clothes, food, stove etc).

Simone: My usual North Face clothes and gear. We had no prototype or anything special made for our winter climb. So this was also a demonstration of the high technical standard of the company products.

We used a 1,6 kg single wall tent, downsuit, down mitt, 45 liters pack, La Sportiva boots (Olympus Mons), super light Camp harnesses, crampons, technical ice axe, tendon 7,8 mm ropes, titanium ice screws, super light stove and pot.

Lithium batteries for our headlamps, Polar watches and altimeter/GPS, special Nexus fiber Accapi socks, Canon photo and video cameras with Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod. Thuraya 2500 sat phone and Thuraya DSL modem.

We ate mainly Italian food. Tortellini, pasta, tomato sauce, parmesan, bacon and Italian ham. No dry food…

ExWeb: Top three items and worst three items?

Simone: All was top notch so I don’t remember anything worst except the change of logistic (using helicopter after paying the porters) which increased the budget expense by 100%. Other bads were the new IP modem that didn’t work for unknown reason and Denis breaking a tooth during a Muesli breakfast in Khumbu valley :)

ExWeb: Anything you would do different next time?

Simone: Go for helicopter at once. It's wasted expense to try and push porters to BC; it's too difficult and too cold for them in winter.

ExWeb: What was it like to be back together with Denis?

Simone: After 10 years of friendship, Denis and I could climb almost everywhere and on any face. It's only a question of weather and money.

We always reached the summit and our goals in past expeditions: after Snow Leopard in 1999 (five 7000+ m peaks in 42 days) came Everest south side, first winter climb of Marble Wall in Thien Shan; Broad Peak speed ascent; Baruntse north; winter Makalu. The only failure was on Lhotse in 2001 where I spent all energy to rescue Tom Moores, alone and above 8000 meters.

ExWeb: Denis made an attempt with Sergey Samoilov on Makalu last winter; was that helpful to you guys this time?

Simone: His experience on Makalu was handy for sure. So were my previous 9 winter expeditions. We used it all, including my Shisha Pangma first winter climb, to form the right strategy and find the right motivation to succeed.

ExWeb: How did last year compare to this year, he figured?

Simone: Denis said that the weather was worse last year but also that due to premature departure he was unable to play all his cards. They decided to abort end January while winter lasts through March 21. He told me that he had the right weather, the right partner and the right strategy this year.

ExWeb: How did Makalu compare to Shisha and BP for you?

Simone: I didn’t find huge difference in terms of cold or wind and the climbs were similar. The difference of 450 meters in altitude however added a lot of effort and patience. Although my patience was tested on Broad Peak too; stopping only 200 meters away I could sense the summit.

ExWeb: What were the most crucial moments?

Simone: The wind! Even on summit day it blew 100 km/h! Terrible, dangerous. The cold crept into our bones. But we were so motivated and strong, we were like two caterpillars :))

ExWeb: Did you consider to quit at any point?

Simone: No, never. We only spent 19 days on Makalu; it's too short time to lose motivation. Last year on Broad Peak I started on December 25 and returned March 17. And still I was not too tired to try.

ExWeb: What were the highlights of this expedition and what were the bummers?

Simone: Highlights: small team, no oxygen, no Sherpa, clean and fast style. Only 19 days to realize the climb and establish the second first winter ascent in 21 years.
Bummers: the sat phone modem and the porters.

ExWeb: What went through your mind in the last moments when you knew you'd make it?

Simone: I thought how I was entering climbing history for the second time; just by believing in my dreams and working hard to realize them. And I did it in light style.

Kristof Wielicki said that a winter climb is like a lottery: the chance of success is around 15%. While I’m very happy about Makalu, I’m also proud about my previous 2 attempts on Broad Peak, or on Annapurna in 1997. I never paid attention to the criticism and rumors when I failed.

Few mountaineers can imagine what it means to winter a mountain for 3 months, working in constant cold and extreme conditions alone or in a super small team as I did on Broad Peak for the past 2 years. It was harder than Makalu. There can be adventure and exploration without success and that's why I think it's important to speak about Broad Peak even though I didn't top out.

I’m the only person alive who realized 2 first winter climbs entirely within Calendar winter. I always respected the Calendar dates and never started before December 21st. While Messner is my overall mentor in alpinism; Kukuczka and Wielicki are my mentors when it comes to winter climbs and I’m happy to have followed and learned from them.

Next: about coming home, media, reflections - and the future.
Winter Makalu debrief interview with Simone Moro, final: heli license and the south west face of Cho Oyu next

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