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| Messages 1 - 17 of total 17 in this topic |
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 22, 2018 - 12:34pm PT
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would have been 88 today.
What a guy! Survives countless epics to marry a movie star and die in bed.
I had lunch with him and Fred Becky in '84, and Fred was really lit.
We had another lunch in Telluride in '96 with Charlie Fowler translating, a very modest guy with a smile that could light up the room.
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seano
Mountain climber
none
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Jun 22, 2018 - 02:16pm PT
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I just ran across his "Mountains of My Life" the other day, and highly recommend it. Not only is he an engaging writer, but he survived some crazy s**t with primitive equipment. I'm unlikely to forget his description of flipping upside-down while doing a partly free-hanging dulfersitz rappel, and saving himself by wedging his body into a slot only a few feet before hitting the end of the rope. Nuts!
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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Jun 22, 2018 - 02:56pm PT
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He was inspirational, due to his superior drive and determination. Including staying true to a code of conduct for which he was rewarded by betrayal.
Eventually vindicated, after suing and winning, he is still regarded as the greatest mountaineer ever, only to drop to 2nd, in some peoples opinion, not mine,
but it must be recognized that, among the greater un-informed public, due to Messner's ability to draw press and sponsorship, his name rose as Walter's name suffered as he fought the slander.
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norm larson
climber
wilson, wyoming
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Jun 22, 2018 - 03:17pm PT
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I don’t really have a lot of heroes but Walter Bonatti was right up there for the real deal. Amazing what he did when so much was still unknown.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jun 22, 2018 - 03:23pm PT
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Walter will ALWAYS be Numero Uno!
He epitomized class, not to mention integrity and will power.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Jun 22, 2018 - 05:12pm PT
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the real deal
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Charlie D.
Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
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Jun 22, 2018 - 05:52pm PT
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An exemplary man indeed.
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Jun 22, 2018 - 07:10pm PT
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I've always admired his courage to step away from high level alpinism while still in his prime. Great guy.
BAd
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EdBannister
Mountain climber
13,000 feet
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Jun 23, 2018 - 12:53am PT
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met with him six times 1984 - 88.. plus a couple of phone conversations, all related to product development or import and distribution in USA.
I remember him much thinner that the later photo above. Always the perfect gentleman, always showed fantastic knowledge acumen, and ethics. Walter sat me down one day and said, Maestri and Egger really did climb Cerro Torre. He said when conditions are perfect you can do what you cannot the next year, he said we were climbers, Maestri was his friend.. He got the sponsorship to do the bolt thing the next year, but all he was really trying to do was just get back there..only to not repeat as the perfect styrofoam he had climbed the year before, was not there.. Anyway, Walter took the time to try to set the record straight, as he believed it to be, from people he knew and had climbed with. Whatever you think about Cerro Torre, Walter cared more about his friends credibility and reputation as a person, than he did about the summit.. i thought that was a very very good friend indeed. That, was Walter Bonatti.
His smile? infectious.
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EdBannister
Mountain climber
13,000 feet
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Jun 23, 2018 - 01:02am PT
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he was also a Phd
unlike most Europeans who wear certs like crowns, he rarely let that on, even his business card did not have the letters after his name. He had no need to announce his import. Doctor Bonatti was able to accept, compliment, use, and say thank you for an idea that was not his own.. It is a good man who is in a position of authority, who can listen to an idea and recognize it as improving on what he had done... Walter, had all of that.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Jun 23, 2018 - 09:45am PT
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Bonatti is number one also from the perspective of this sportclimber. If he should share the place with anybody else it could be Buhl.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Jun 23, 2018 - 11:16am PT
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I was fortunate to get to do the Bonatti Pillar with on the Dru, with Dewi Butler, before it fell down.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jun 23, 2018 - 12:58pm PT
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Bonatti was my ideal of what a climber should be when I first started climbing....bold, smart, prepared and enduring.
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Kligfield
Mountain climber
Boulder, CO
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Jun 23, 2018 - 03:07pm PT
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Walter Bonatti was way-way ahead of his time in his sense of adventure, and his courage in the face of formidable obstacles. He was always pushing the envelope of what was possible in climbing, but never to the degree of danger that others have subsequently done. His controlled risk approach to his first ascents enabled him to live a long and accomplishment-full life. I met him several times in Courmayeur (my wife is from there) and we were able to appreciate his multi-cultural nature and his passion for both first ascents as well as climbing throughout the world. His list of accomplishments are published elsewhere, including in his autobiographical memoirs--but Gasherbrum IV, solo direct route on the N Face of the Matterhorn in winter, Bonatti Pillar on the Dru--these routes speak for themselves, but it was indeed the same individual who opened them all. I can't imagine anyone exceeding his accomplishments on rock, ice, and mountaineering. Way ahead of his time.
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Jun 23, 2018 - 03:48pm PT
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he was also a Phd
I'm a big fan of Bonatti's, but I've never heard of this. I can't find references that he ever attended university, but that he worked in a steel mill for a time to make ends meet. Perhaps he was given an honorary degree later in life, although I can't find a reference to that either.
But all this has no bearing whatsoever on his enormous contributions to the sport. It's sad that his life companion could not be with him at the end.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jun 23, 2018 - 09:45pm PT
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hey there say, toker villian and all...
edit-- ooops, was not a bump-- is a NEW post...
:)
thank you for posting... i never knew of him, as, of course, i am
not a climber...
but, i am very glad to learn, from your post...
thank you all, for sharing about walter bonatti..
i will sure read some more, later...
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2010/jun/30/walter-bonatti-mountain-climber
http://www.alpinist.com/doc/ALP16/newswire-bonatti
[Click to View YouTube Video]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Bonatti
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