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Date
of Birth: March 10, 1949
Team:
He goes alone, joining or sharing permits with other expeditions
Sponsor:
No one, he still buys his stuff and self-finance his climbs
Status:
Still climbing Next Expedition: probably somewhere in Pakistan
Only seven men
have climbed all
fourteen 8000 meter peaks in the world, two of them are Italians and
two Polish. 13 years after
Reinhold Messner's exploit, Italian
climber Sergio Martini completed his Himalayan career climbing Mount Everest.
Martini, 50 years old, is a
non-professional climber: still teaching physical education in public schools, still
climbing and training during holidays, still walking and hiking his way from Nepal valleys
up to the top.
He lives in Rovereto, a small town in
Northern Italy surrounded by the Dolomites. Sergio started his career back in the
Sixties, gaining attention in the climbers world with impressive new ways on Marmolada
north face and joining two Patagonia expedition to Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.
The Himalaya experience started in
1976: Martini was 27 and supported a successful expedition to Dhaulagiri. Then his first
8000: he reached K2 summit in 1983. "From that moment, I dedicated my time at the
task, organizing one expedition every year" he tells. He climbs Makalu in 1985, Nanga
Parbat and Annapurna in 1986, Gasherbrum in 1987 and both Shishapangma and Cho Oyu in
1988. Then comes Dhaulagiri (1989), Broad Peak (1993), Hidden Peak (1994), Kanchenjunga
(1995), Manaslu (1996), Lhotse (1997) [He reached the Summit of Lhotse again in
2000.]
And Everest, Holy Mother Sagarmatha?
"I tried it two times, in 1989 and 1998 - says Martini - and I reached the South Peak
in the second attempt, with Fausto De Stefani's expedition". "I did it at last. " . A day
in his life he'll not forget. Now he's back home continuing his everyday life:
school, home, and climbing. Sergio Martini is not a showman in someway he's just an old guy
from the mountains. And his friends of the Italian Alpine Club in Trento had to build up a
surprise party with 800 people to celebrate. That night, he was told he was going to a
slide show. On stage, he whispered: "Thank you, but I'm not 8000 meter king. I'm not
Reinhold Messner..."
Sergio
bring up a good question. Are many climbers today
attempting the toughest route ? What has happened to
the attempts of climbers such as Reinhold Messner,
Jerzy Kukuczka (Jerzy died), Ehardt Loretan, Krzysztof Wielicki and a few others have might be considered
in this elite group ?
Interview of Sergio Martini
by Luigi Zoppello, Dolomutes,
northern Italy, journalist
Pictures:
On Everest's Summit One
and Two
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