Simone Moro

Born in Bergamo, Italy to middle-class parents, he grew up in the borough of Valtesse and was strongly supported by his father in his passion for the mountains. His father was a climber and biker at a high level and also created a lively and international environment around him. He started climbing the Presolana and other massifs of the Alpi Bergamasche at 13, however he continued his studies until graduating cum laude at the university.

Moro began his climbing activity in the Grigne near his home city, and in the Dolomites. His father was his first mentor, followed by Alberto Cosonni and Bruno Tassi. In this period 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, achieving the first winter ascent of that peak. During his career he has attempted a number of mountains 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]

In May 2001 he tried to traverse Everest–Lhotse: during an attempt on the wall of Lhotse at 8000 he abandoned the climb to search, rescue and save English alpinist Tom Moores. Moro was 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]

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 open in 2005. It is located in a 1000mt high village which lies a three-hour journey from the first 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 the shepherds and a small hospital in the village of Ser.[35]

• 1996, 2005[1] – Shishapangma, first winter ascent (2005)
• 1997 – Lhotse
• 2002 – Cho Oyu[14]
• 2003 – Broad Peak[16]
• 2009 – Makalu, first winter ascent[4]
• 2000,[13] 2002,[15] 2006,[17] 2010[36] – Mount Everest
• 2011 – Gasherbrum II, first winter ascent[6]
• 2016 – Nanga Parbat, first winter ascent [7][8]

• 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.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simone Moro.

• Official website
• Interview on planetmountain.com (in Italian)