Walter Bonatti (1930-2011)

I’d like to remeber Bonatti freely quoting Stefano Benni, an italian writer.

“Walter Bonatti died today. Others were Great. He was Unique”

young Walter_Bonatti ad Askole
(photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

And two marvellous quotes from the man himself:

La realtà è il cinque per cento della vita. L’uomo deve sognare per salvarsi
Reality is five percent of life. Men must dream to save themselves.

“I would have liked to have climbed the Eiger. I once got about a third of the way up in a couple of hours when the rockfalls began, so I came back down. You see, the real essence of mountain climbing – of really knowing and loving the mountains – is not getting to the top. It’s having the humility and self-awareness when necessary to be able to stop 100 metres from the summit and make it down alive.”

Here(corriere.it) and here(guardian.co.uk) are two a beautiful articles on Bonatti’s life.