Silvan Schupbach | Lucia Prosino

Matteo in Patagonia. (Cop. Della Bordella/Ragni di Lecco)

We are all poets and writers these days, dispensing aphorisms, mottos, prophecies and proverbs of all kinds, most of all related to dreams. “Find peace in yourself…”, “Follow your heart”… et al. There is such a vast misuse of said sayings that very few bother to think about their real meanings.

In our consumerist society, people seek and accumulate material goods, in an apparently never-ending search for happiness. Or so it would seem. Some people, in fact, find true satisfaction in simple things, like struggle and anxiety, slowly progressing on a wind and snow-battered north face. But then, when they reach the top of the mountain, they happily shake hands, their smiley and elated faces a mirror of their joy.

In Alagna for the Mountain Festival, Matteo della Bordella – member of the prestigious Ragni di Lecco group, superb trad climber, who opened routes all over the world and is author of two guidebooks, on Switzerland and the Tessin/Varese region – illustrated and explained his adventures, what motivates him and pushes him to carry on when conditions are harsh, when several attempts have already failed, and a success seems as likely as squeezing blood out of a stone.

And so he showed a video encompassing three years of attempts in Patagonia, opening a route up Torre Egger, his adventures in Pakistan, setting up a route up Uli Biaho in the Trango group, and then his film on his Greenland expeditions, when he opened a new route on Shark’s Tooth, The Great Shark Hunt, together with Silvan Schupbach and Christian Lederberger. The official premiere for this film is in Lecco on 11 May

All these are examples of resilience and willpower. You certainly need them if you want to progress in life, whatever you do. I have to say, however, that thanks to my job, following and reporting the feats of mountaineers of all kinds, I have come to realise that, indeed, you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it.