What is the common thread that links all the many human and professional experiences you have had?
My life has been tied primarily to mountaineering and adventure around the world. It all began there. I started climbing at fourteen, and from that moment my vocation for the mountains was born. I even stopped for a few years: I went to live in Geneva and had a completely different life. Then my childhood friends brought me back to the mountains, because I was good enough and they wanted me to climb with them again. In 1971, however, I suffered a terrible accident: I lost four friends and was left alone. From there, I fell into a profound depression, but also a new strength. It was then that I decided to become a mountain guide and make mountaineering my life.
I've traveled the world: the Himalayas, Patagonia, Antarctica, Alaska. But I wasn't just looking for mountains. I was looking for adventure, freedom, and the challenge of the unknown. And I believe this same spirit also led me to entrepreneurship and wine.
You make a distinction between extreme mountaineering and the work of a mountain guide. What's the most fundamental difference?
Extreme mountaineering is something you share with a partner who's at your level. You share the rope, the risk, and you tackle something very difficult together, knowing that both of you might not make it back.
Being a mountain guide, on the other hand, is something else entirely. The client entrusts their entire life to you. Some were very physically fit, but technically they knew next to nothing. I've even taken clients up Vinson, the highest mountain in Antarctica, with temperatures of sixty degrees below zero. In those moments, you truly understand what it means to have an absolute responsibility to another person.
That's why I always told my client-friends that the final decision was up to me. If I decided to turn back, we'd turn back. In the mountains, experience and common sense decide. It's a bit like the captain of a ship in the middle of a storm.
In addition to technique, I imagine that great human empathy and the ability to grasp people's psychology are also required.
Absolutely. You have to understand people, perceive their fears, their moments of difficulty, know when someone is giving up even if they don't say so. The men and women you support literally put their lives in your hands, and this creates a very strong bond. In fact, my clients have always become my friends, too.
Of all the expeditions you've undertaken, is there one that you still feel particularly close to today?
More than one. But my first Himalayan expedition definitely had a special meaning. I was young, I was the expedition leader, and I was responsible for twelve people. We reached a peak above seven thousand meters in Nepal, and it was an unforgettable experience with just the two of us. Then I remember my first eight-thousander, done only with Tiziano Zuend, without heavy tents, in a very basic style. At the time, it was something extremely innovative.
But there are also defeats I remember with emotion. For example, Cerro Torre. I've made three attempts in my life. Once I got within sixty meters of the summit, another time within three hundred meters. It would have been easy to say I'd reached the summit, but it wasn't true. And I think respecting the truth is fundamental.
This search for authenticity seems to be a central element in his character…
Authenticity is fundamental. Today, there's a lot of exaggeration, pretending to be bigger than we are. I, on the other hand, believe that self-respect comes from truth. If you haven't achieved something, you haven't achieved it. Period.
And then I think we shouldn't be jealous or envious. Envy gets us nowhere. We can be competitive, of course, because ambition is important, but without malice. Being the first on a mountain is magnificent, but not to say "I'm the best": instead, it's beautiful to reach where no one has ever reached before.
Has mountaineering also influenced your way of doing business?
"Very much. I worked with Scarpa for over thirty years and founded a company in Switzerland that imported mountaineering equipment. We developed the Swiss and German markets significantly. When I arrived, the brand had a turnover of a few million; when I left, it had become a large company. But even in this case, the principle was always the same: professionalism, responsibility, passion. Today, the company is in the hands of my son, and I'm happy about that. He has his own way of working and should be free to make his own choices."
Wine came later. How did this interest arise?
"Wine has always been a great passion. But even there, I wasn't interested in famous labels or luxury for its own sake; I was driven by a desire to explore.
In wine, as in the mountains, the most beautiful thing is discovering something authentic. I've never bought a wine without personally going to the winery to meet the producer. Because wine has a soul, and that soul comes from the people who make it. Uvarara We import mainly Italian and French wines and some prestigious Swiss labels, small producers, historic companies, and businesses that may produce a few thousand bottles but are of extraordinary quality. I'm not interested in industrial production. I'm interested in real wine."
After all, even the world of wine seems like a journey…
Exactly. And in fact, the world of mountains brought me closer to so many extraordinary producers who also loved the mountains. A human connection was immediately created. I've always sought this in things: encounters, curiosity, discovery. It's the same reason I made films, photographs, and documentaries. I made many documentaries for Swiss television and even won several awards. But I didn't do it out of vanity. I did it because I wanted to show others places they'd never be able to see.
What does being free mean to you today?
Freedom is the most important word in existence. My whole life has been a search for freedom. But freedom doesn't mean doing what you want without thinking of others. Freedom involves respect, kindness, responsibility. And it also requires effort.
But what kind of life is it without freedom?
Many young people today seem afraid to take risks, to think outside the box. What would you say to them?
I'm not overly pessimistic about young people. I recently went on a fifteen-day trek with people between sixteen and twenty-two, crossing the Ticino River. It was a wonderful experience. I tried to pass on something to them, but I also received a lot. Young people still want to listen and gain experience. Perhaps today they live in a faster, more competitive world. Even in mountaineering, there's too much pursuit of records and speed. I, on the other hand, would perhaps have stopped fifty meters below the summit to wait for dawn. I believe we should never lose the ability to be amazed.
At almost eighty, you continue to travel, climb, and cycle. What's your next challenge?
"For now, I don't have a specific goal. But I'm still doing a lot of things. I'm doing well and I'm still enthusiastic. I think this is because I still feel young inside. And I like to tell stories, share, and be with people. A nice meal, a bottle of wine, a genuine conversation: in the end, perhaps that's the most beautiful thing."
