Denis Urubko is one of the strongest Himalayan climbers of all time: he has climbed all 8000 meter peaks without supplemental oxygen, establishing new alpine style routes on Broad Peak, Manaslu, Cho Oyu and Lhotse. He also made the first winter ascents of Makalu and Gasherbrum II. Add to his legend, the incredible rescue of Elisabeth Revol in distress on the Nanga Parbat in January 2018, and that of about eight other climbers. Urubko's story is simply unique, tells us about him and his journey to becoming the best in very high mountains. Denis Urubko is not just an exceptional climber, he is a true legend whose feats of arms will remain etched in the history of mountaineering.
Mountaineering legend Denis Urubko shares his thoughts on what mountaineering is (or isn't). "It's important to get up from the table before you're full at mealtime. Sometimes people try to enjoy life to the fullest. And I'm afraid of it," he says in this interview given to Dominik Szczepański and produced by Jarek Tokarski for Duży Format.
Thanks to his perseverance, the Italian Simone Moro has written pages in the history of mountaineering, especially winter mountaineering on peaks over 8,000 meters high. I-VIEW tells of his adventure as a helicopter pilot and his dream of bringing helicopter rescue to the Himalayas.
Ueli Steck (Switzerland), Simone Moro (Italy) and Jon Griffith (GB) are not like 95% of the climbers on Everest: they don't use oxygen, altimeters (improperly called Sherpas), or fixed ropes. In 2013, the trio aims to repeat the arduous Western Spur. The Sherpas have the mission to equip the mountain with fixed ropes on this famous day, up to Camp 3: ropes without which customers of commercial expeditions could not climb Everest. An argument ensued, insults were hurled from both sides. The confrontation at Camp 2 degenerated: a Sherpa water bottle physically attacked the trio of Europeans. Blows and stones were thrown and threats led the trio to flee the mountain. The Réel Rock film crew, which is part of the climbing team, films this chaos without complacency.
For the past 26 years 16 expeditions have tried and failed to climb one of Pakistan's 8,000 meter peaks in winter. On February 2, 2011, Simone Moro, Denis Urubko and Cory Richards became the first. Cory is now the only American to summit any 8,000 meter peak in winter. The journey nearly killed them. Cory carried a small camera and filmed the ordeal constantly. This is their story, as seen from the raw, honest perspective of Cory's lens.
Simone Moro is an Italian mountaineer, born October 27, 1967 in Bergamo, Italy. He is the first and only mountaineer to achieve the first winter ascents of four peaks over 8,000 meters: Shisha Pangma in 2005, Makalu in 2009, Gasherbrum II in 2011, and Nanga Parbat in 2016. Moro is also a helicopter pilot experienced holder of many records. Encouraged by his father, a high-level mountaineer and motorcyclist, in his passion for the high mountains, he began at the age of 13, by climbing the Pizzo della Presolana and other massifs of the Bergamasque Alps while continuing his studies until the end of his university studies. In 1992, he made his first expedition to Everest. A year later, Moro climbed Aconcagua, making the first winter ascent. In 1996 Moro climbed the west face of Fitz Roy (3,341 m in Patagonia) in 25 hours from the base to the top of the wall. The same year, he reached the southern summit of Shisha Pangma (8,008 m) without oxygen in 27 hours and then made a descent on skis from 7,100 meters. In 1997, he successfully climbed Lhotse. During the winter of 1997, during his attempt to climb the south face of Annapurna, his rope companions Anatoli Boukreev and Dimitri Sobolev disappeared in an avalanche. He returned to Everest in 1998; then succeeded in climbing four peaks: Peak Lenin (7,134 m), Peak Korjenevskoy (7,105 m), Peak Ismail Somoni (7,495 m), Peak Khan Tengri (7,010 m) with the Kazakh Denis Urubko; and succeeded with him the ascent of Everest in 2000 and the first winter of the Marble Wall in 2001. In 2002, he climbed three summits: Mount Vinson, Cho Oyu and Everest; then also three summits (Broad Peak, Elbrouz and Kilimanjaro) in 2003. He opened a new route on Baruntse and attempted the ascent of Shisha Pangma and Annapurna in 2004. In 2005 he reached the summit of Batura Sar and Batokshi peak. He climbed the Broad Peak during the winters of 2006 and 2007. In 2005, he succeeded in the first winter Shisha Pangma with Piotr Morawski. In 2006, he completed the South-North crossing of Everest alone, descending from the summit in 5 hours. In 2008 he completed, with Hervé Barmasse, the first ascent of Beka Brakai Chnok (6,950 m in the Karakoram) in alpine style and in 43 hours. In January 2009, Simone Moro succeeded without oxygen in the first winter ascent of Makalu in the company of Denis Urubko. In February 2011 Moro made the first winter ascent of Gasherbrum II with Denis Urubko and Cory Richards. In April 2013, Moro, accompanied by Ueli Steck and Jonathan Griffith, got involved in a fight with a group of Sherpas. This incident had an international impact. In February 2016 Moro completed the first winter ascent of Nanga Parbat with Alex Txikon and Muhammad Ali Sadpara. In February 2018, Simone Moro, accompanied by Tamara Lunger, climbed Pic Pobeda in Siberia, the highest point of the Chersky Massif, at 7439 meters above sea level. In January 2020, Moro accompanied by Lunger attempted to cross Gasherbrum II and I in winter. The expedition runs out before the camp. Moro falls into a fortunately harmless crevasse.
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