Simone Moro

Simone Moro (born 27 October 1967 in Bergamo) is an Italian mountaineer and alpinist who is known for making first winter ascents of four of the fourteen eight-thousanders (peaks above 8,000 metres), which were: Shishapangma in 2005,

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 a 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. In 2003, at 35, he completed his university studies and graduated cum laude.

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 in winter. He made expeditions to other mountains in the 1990s, including Cerro Mirador in winter and Makalu in 1993; Shishapangma and Lhotse in 1994, Kangchenjunga in 1995. In 1996 Moro climbed the west wall of Fitz Roy ( in Patagonia) in 25 hours from the base to the summit and back to the base. In the same year, he climbed Shishapangma South without oxygen in 27 hours using skis in the descent from . In 1997 he summited Lhotse. In Winter of 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 , Peak Korzhenevskaya , Ismoil Somoni Peak (, formerly known as Pik Kommunizma), Pik Khan Tengri with young Kazakhstan guide Denis Urubko; then summited Everest with him in 2000 In February 2016, Moro completed the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat with Alex Txikon and Ali Sadpara. Moro was a recipient of the Fair Play Pierre de Coubertin trophy from UNESCO, he bought a helicopter with his own money to carry out search and rescue operations in the Nepalese Himalayas for Nepalese people.