Who I am

I started climbing at the age of 18 in 1978, and thanks to my parents, I have engaged in outdoor activities, from the sea to the mountains, since my earliest years of life: even if I don’t remember it, I put on skis for the first time at one and a half years old. I have always considered it important to combine sport with culture, as well as the knowledge of many sports disciplines with specialization. The vertical dimension for me has been a means that allowed me to reach new knowledge, certainly in the motor sphere and in the relationship with wild nature but also in the inner and spiritual world. For this reason, I have been passionate about all forms of mountaineering and climbing, seeking stimuli that led me to create climbs of new conception. Thus, in 1982 the route “Cavalcare la tigre” was born on the Corno Piccolo of Gran Sasso and subsequently, in the same mountain range, other exceptional routes such as Golem, Baphomet, or Nagual and Farfalla on the Paretone of Corno Grande. At the same time, I was looking for other horizons in winter mountaineering, which led me to make important first winter ascents such as the fourth Pillar and the Anticima, always on the Paretone of Corno Grande or the first absolute winter ascent of the famous Cerro Torre in Patagonia. A special memory goes to the exploratory mountaineering activity, with climbs on untouched mountains in the Stauning Alps in Greenland and in Wadi Rum in Jordan. I have always considered it important to climb the most beautiful routes opened by other exceptional climbers and mountaineers, so I have repeated the great classic routes in M. Bianco and the Dolomites, but also modern routes such as Voyage selon Gulliver on G. Cappuccin or the Fish Route in Marmolada. I have never liked collecting routes and seeking “firsts” at all costs, while I value the human experience and respect for nature that is achieved when creating logical routes. In Yosemite, for example, after Salathé we climbed the Astroman route and only a few years later did we discover that we had made the first Italian ascent.

At the end of the 80s, I started practicing Qi Gong, Tai Ji Quan, and Shiatsu, excellent disciplines that derive from the wisdom of ancient Chinese culture. This allowed me to discover the art of the most natural and effective movement, as well as to gain greater knowledge of the human body.

The Method was born thanks to the integration of various factors: the thirst for knowledge and adventure, personal experience as a climber and mountaineer, a passion for genuine teaching, the study of other sports disciplines and in particular those mentioned above, but also classical studies.

From Socrates, for example, I learned the importance of Maieutics in teaching, as well as the awareness that an excess of specialization risks making you more ignorant instead of better if it is not accompanied by a sense of humility towards the great mystery that is life, by the wisdom of those who know they do not know and consequently investigate to know and understand something more.

In recent years I have also worked in managerial training, applying the approach and “tactics” of the Method to the natural solution of difficult situations at the management level.

I published the book “L’Arte di arrampicare,” ed. Mediterranee 1992, the film “L’Arte di arrampicare,” SD Cinematografica 1998, and the manual “Progressione su roccia” for the College of Alpine Guides, Vivalda editors 1998, which respectively received the Coni awards (1994 and 1998) and the Silver Thistle of the Itas award in 1999 (Trento Festival). In 2007 I wrote the sections on movement technique for the CAI Rock Manual, published in 2008.