Cesare Maestri

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cesare Maestri (2006)

Cesare Maestri (born October 2, 1929 in Trento , † January 19, 2021 in Tione di Trento ) was an Italian climber and alpine writer. In the 1950s he made numerous first ascents , especially in the Brenta Group and in the Dolomites . At that time he was one of the best climbers in the world. He also climbed a route in VI. Difficulty level downwards (Via delle Guide - Crozzon di Brenta ). His nickname Ragno delle Dolomiti (Spider of the Dolomites) comes from this time.

Life

Cesare Maestri grew up in Trento. His father Toni Maestri was a stage actor, a career that his younger sister Anna would also pursue. He lost his mother when he was seven. He was already climbing around town in his youth. During the war, he joined the partisans after his father was sentenced to death after the German occupation of Italy for alleged anti-German activities and had to go underground.

After the war ended, the Maestri family went to Rome and lived there for two years. Cesare Maestri began studying art history in Rome and was also active in the Partito Comunista Italiano . At the age of 18 he returned to Trento. When he returned, he took up climbing again. The Brenta Group was one of his popular climbing areas, where he attracted attention with difficult solo climbs. When Bruno Detassis observed him climbing there, he is said to have compared him to a spider, from which his nickname developed.

After becoming a mountain guide in 1952 , he completely shifted the focus of his life to the mountains. In the Dolomites he made a name for himself with numerous first ascents, such as the first winter solo ascent of the north face of the Cimon della Pala ( 3184  m ) in 1956 or the solo ascent of 16 peaks in a row within 24 hours in the Brenta Group in 1954. In 1957 he traveled to Patagonia for the first time on an expedition led by Bruno Detassis . When the expedition arrived at Cerro Torre , Detassis assessed an ascent as too risky. Maestri is said to have vowed not to give up Cerro Torre just like that.

At the end of 1958 he returned to Patagonia. A return that turned out to be the tragic turning point in his life. At the beginning of 1959 he began the ascent to Cerro Torre together with Cesarino Fava and the Tyrolean mountaineer and ice specialist Toni Egger . According to their own statements, Egger and Maestri reached the summit on January 31, 1959. During the descent, Egger fell fatally, along with the camera, which was supposed to contain the photo proof of the summit success. Maestri's claims were soon questioned - today the experts largely agree that Cerro Torre was not climbed back then.

In 1970, Maestri reached the highest point of the rock face (below the summit ice mushroom) using a compressor with which he bored hundreds of hooks into the wall - an ascent method that was heavily criticized by the top alpinists. At that time, Maestri said he did not climb the top, which was covered with a meter-thick layer of ice, "because it was not really part of the mountain".

His career as a mountaineer lists over 3,500 climbs, a third of which are solo climbs. Even at an advanced age, when he was almost 70 years old, he still climbed the Brenta group. In 2002 he led an expedition to Shishapangma ( 8027  m ) in Tibet together with Sergio Martini and Fausto De Stefani .

Cesare Maestri was committed to sustainable tourism and was the author of numerous mountaineering books. He lived in Madonna di Campiglio and died in January 2021 at the age of 91.

He was president of the mountain guides of Madonna di Campiglio, honorary member of the Club Alpino Italiano , member of the Club Alpino Accademico Italiano , the Gruppo italiano scrittori di montagna and holder of the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic .

Web links

Commons : Cesare Maestri  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. 'Spider of the Dolomites' Maestri dies at 91. In: ANSA. January 19, 2021, accessed January 19, 2021 .
  2. a b c d Addio Cesare Maestri. “Nel ricordo del grande fascino di un uomo e la sua storia”. In: sat.tn.it. January 19, 2021, accessed January 21, 2021 (Italian).
  3. Cesare Maestri. In: anpi.it. Retrieved January 20, 2021 (Italian).
  4. a b c Addio a Cesare Maestri, leggenda dell'alpinismo. Si è spento a 91 anni. L'annuncio del figlio: "Ha firmato il libro di vetta della scalata sulla sua vita". In: ladige.it. January 19, 2021, accessed January 20, 2021 (Italian).
  5. ^ Rolando Garibotti: A mountain unveiled. A revealing analysis of Cerro Torre's tallest tale. In: American Alpine Journal , vol. 2004, ISBN 0-930410-95-5 , pp. 138–155, here p. 154.
  6. Ermanno Salvaterra: The Ark of the Winds . In: Alpinist , No. 16 (Summer 2006).