Cesare Maestri

Cesare Maestri, born October 2, 1929 in Trento and died January 19, 2021 in Tione di Trento in Trentino-Alto Adige, was a contemporary Italian mountaineer and writer. Cesare Maestri first studied theater and art history in Rome but returned to Trento to work as a guide and ski instructor. It begins to climb in the Brenta massif and then opens many routes, often solo, in this massif and in the Dolomites. Maestri was quickly nicknamed “the Spider of the Dolomites” (in Italian: Il Ragno delle Dolomiti). A disciple of Paul Preuss as far as “solo” and uninsured climbing is concerned, he was the first to climb a listed route in sixth degree alone and the first to descend to the same degree. But, after the controversial ascent of Cerro Torre in 1959, Cesare Maestri's alpine career continued on the mode of open artificial routes using a large number of expansion pitons. For Cesare Maestri, the challenge represented by Cerro Torre embodies the possibility of revenge on the past. Him, the young and talented climber of the Dolomites who lost his mother at the age of 6. Him, the rebellious communist militant who in post-war Italy supported Coppi rather than Bartali. He, stocky, muscular, che...