BURSTA team of alpinists from Italy, Matteo Della Bordella, Tommaso Lamantia, and Marco Majori, are heading to Patagonia to attempt the first winter ascent of the Casarotto Route on Fitz Roy’s Goretta Pillar.
Italian climber Renato Casarotto is considered one of the best climbers of the 20th century. He opened the north face of Huascaran (over 17 days) in 1977; Goretta Pillar (named after his wife) in 1979; the trilogy of the Frêney in winter 1982; and the Ridge of No Return on Denali in 1984. He died on K2 in 1986.
After his ascent, Casarotto wrote in the American Alpine Journal, “On this wall I had to overcome extreme technical difficulties under the most continuous foul weather. The equipment and food I had were what is usually used on Alpine climbs, but I also had impermeable Gore-Tex clothing. This adventure confirmed in my mind that to succeed in ascents of noteworthy difficulty it is indispensable to integrate oneself into the surroundings. That is to say that one must know how to determine the most propitious conditions for the ascent so that one’s physical and psychological energies are not dissipated in long waits.”
Della Bordella told Gripped: “Winter mountaineering isn’t part of my background, but the idea of testing myself and exploring different terrain excites me. Fitz Roy in winter is a dream, and doing it on the Casarotto, which I’ve already climbed in the summer, has a special meaning. For Majori, there’s a personal connection, as his father was one of Casarotto’s climbing partners.”
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