Sondrio – Mario Conti, 79 years old, a mountaineering legend, known as “Mariolino” to his friends, has been missing for over a week, despite the efforts of a task force of over 100 rescuers scouring the mountains. It seems as though he has been swallowed up by the depths of the mountains. Mario Conti, also a mountain guide for several decades, has an impressive resume, but his name is forever linked to the ascent of Cerro Torre in Patagonia. On January 13, 1974, along with the other “Ragni” climbers Casimiro Ferrari, Pino Negri, and Daniele Chiappa, he reached the summit of Cerro Torre after completing the first absolute ascent of the West face. This route was probably the most technically difficult ice climb in the world at the time, and is still considered one of the most beautiful and challenging routes today.
He became one of the protagonists of the most daring exploits of the “Ragni” climbers on the highest mountains in the world, from South America to the Himalayas. He climbed Lhotse in 1975. Originally from the San Giovanni neighborhood in Lecco, he now resides in Mossini, a hilly hamlet in Sondrio, where he is married to mountain guide Serena Fait. His passion for the mountains and the great outdoors is too strong, it’s impossible to keep him “imprisoned” at home and deny him his daily walks. Every day, Conti goes for a walk in the area between Mossini and Ronchi, just as he did last Tuesday afternoon, but he never returned home before dinner.
Where could her husband be? Many people are searching for him, including the military personnel from Sagf-Soccorso Alpino della Finanza in Sondrio and the members of the VII Delegazione, who are among the most experienced and skilled in finding lost and distressed hikers.
“I wonder about it every day too,” Serena replies. “I rack my brain trying to figure out where he could be. Every day, I start my own search. Should I go right or left today? Is it better to search in this forest or that one? I’ve come up with so many hypotheses, but I always end up without an answer. And I will never stop thanking the many rescuers who tirelessly search for him, from Lieutenant Christian Maioglio of Sagf to all the others. They are commendable.”
Has she ever considered the possibility that he might not actually be in the area, but instead have left in a car with someone?
“You’re right. I’ve thought about it. Maybe he went out onto the road to Valmalenco. Someone in a car might have seen him and offered him a ride. And he, even though he’s perfectly fine after the heart surgery he had 15 years ago, sometimes experiences moments of confusion, a beginning stage of Alzheimer’s. He might have let someone take him somewhere, like Lecco, where he wanted to go on the day he disappeared. But I reminded him that we already had plans to go there the next day to buy medication from Dr. Riva, and to bring him the rye breadsticks he loves and some cheese for our daughter.”
And have you looked for him near home, in the immediate surroundings?
“Yes, right away. We’ve been living in Mossini for 20 years, and we have a wonderful relationship with our fellow villagers. Sometimes, he goes to Giovanni’s, Silvano’s, and Battista’s vegetable gardens to get fresh produce from our friends. At 3 o’clock in the morning, I had a flash of inspiration: I got up and went to see if he was “lost” in one of those cultivated pieces of land. But he wasn’t there.”
He didn’t have his cell phone that day, right?
“Unfortunately, he didn’t even have his watch with GPS. He didn’t take it with him on his 2-hour walk. I hired helicopter pilot Maurizio Folini and four mountain guides to search for him. It’s agonizing not to have any news. Perhaps he’s injured in a ravine, but not critically, otherwise he, with his four legs, would have been able to get himself out.”
