Achille Compagnoni
Achille Compagnoni | |
---|---|
Born | Santa Caterina di Valfurva, Italy | 26 September 1914
Died | 13 May 2009 Aosta, Italy | (aged 94)
Achille Compagnoni (26 September 1914 – 13 May 2009) was an Italian mountaineer and skier. Together with Lino Lacedelli on 31 July 1954 he was in the first party to reach the summit of K2.
Biography
Compagnoni was born in Santa Caterina di Valfurva, Sondrio, Lombardy.
On the successful
Bonatti and a Hunza climber, Amir Mehdi, climbed up to deliver oxygen to Compagnoni and Lacedeilli for their summit attempt. It was an epic climb with the weight of the oxygen bottles at that altitude and both men were exhausted. Bonatti and Mehdi arrived in failing light at a point on the "shoulder" at 7,900 metres (26,000 ft) where the team had agreed to place camp IX. To their surprise the camp was not there. Alarmed, Bonatti and Mehdi called out to Compagnoni and Lacedelli who eventually answered from a site further up and left on the mountain, instructing Bonatti to leave the bottles and descend down the mountain. Bonatti could see the headlamp shining from the site over a difficult traverse in the dark, 600 ft away. Bonatti pleaded with Compagnoni and Lacedelli to join them in the camp. The headlamp abruptly switched off and despite continued pleas from Bonatti and Mehdi, Compagnoni and Lacedelli remained silent, sentencing Bonatti and Mehdi to an unplanned bivouac at 7,900 metres (26,000 ft) in the open.[2]
Bonatti assessed that Mehdi was not in a fit state to
At 18:10 the next evening, Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli reached the summit of K2, using the supplemental oxygen Bonatti and Mehdi had brought them. Expedition leader Ardito Desio, in his final report, mentioned the forced bivouac only in passing. Mehdi's frostbite was an embarrassment to the expedition. The Italian government provided Mehdi with a small pension for his contribution and sacrifice on the first ascent of K2. This is disputed by Mehdi's son.[3]
In 2004, Lino Lacedelli confirmed Bonatti's version of events in his book, K2. Il prezzo della conquista (see also his interview in National Geographical Magazine in an article on Bonatti [4]). In 2006 an English translation appeared, K2: The Price of Conquest. In 2008, the Club Alpino Italiano officially recognized Bonatti's version of these events. Walter Bonatti never reconciled with Compagnoni.[1]
Achille Compagnoni died aged 94 in Aosta on 13 May 2009.[5]
Skiing
During his service with the
Further notable results were:
- 1939: 2nd, Italian men's championships of cross-country skiing, 50 km
- 1940: 1st, Italian men's championships of cross-country skiing, 36 km
- 1941: 3rd, Italian men's championships of cross-country skiing, 50 km
- 1942: 3rd, Italian men's championships of cross-country skiing, 18 km
Italian orders of merit
1st Class / Knight Grand Cross: Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (8,362)
Bibliography
- Uomini sul K2, Achille Compagnoni, 1958, Veronelli Editore, Milano IT.
- Il Tricolore sul K2, Achille Compagnoni, 1958, Veronelli Editore, Milano IT.
- The Mountains of My Life, Walter Bonatti.
- K2. Storia di un caso, Walter Bonatti.
- K2. La verità. 1954–2004, Walter Bonatti, 2005, Baldini Castoldi Dalai editore. ISBN 88-8490-845-0.
- K2. Il prezzo della conquista, Lino Lacedelli and Giovanni Cenacchi, 2004, Mondadori, IT. ISBN 978-88-04-53556-0
- K2: The Price of Conquest, Lino Lacedelli and Giovanni Cenacchi, 2006, Carreg Ltd. UK. ISBN 0-9538631-3-1.
- K2. Lies and Treachery, Robert Marshall, 2009, Carreg Ltd. UK. ISBN 978-0-9538631-7-4.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1-78074-595-4.
- ^ Buffet, Charlie (28 August 2001). "La colere de Walter Bonatti". Le Monde.
- ^ a b Jillani, Shahzeb (7 August 2014). "Amir Mehdi: Left out to freeze on K2 and forgotten". BBC News. Hasanabad, Pakistan. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
- National Geographic. Archived from the originalon 16 August 2008.
- ^ "Addio ad Achille Compagnoniprimo a scalare la vetta del K2". La Stampa. 13 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 May 2009.
- ^ 29° Campionato Italiano di Scialpinismo “Memorial Ettore Schranz” (in Italian), 9 February 2006.
- ^ "1936 Trofeo Mezzalama – photo". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
External links
- K2 at 50: The Bitter Legacy
- Achille Compagnoni – Daily Telegraph obituary
- Achille Compagnoni at IMDb