RIP Armando Aste
Sad to hear that the Italian climber Armando Aste passed away September 1, at 91 years of age.
Armando began climbing in the 1940s on the spire at Castel Corno above his hometown of Rovereto in northern Italy. By the close of that decade he was pedaling his bike 80 miles round-trip from his home up into the Brenta Dolomites to climb Campanile Basso and others. By 1950 he began a two-decade-long string of mountaineering success including the Aste-Susatti route on Monte Civetta, the Aste Route on Marmolada d'Ombretta, the first Italian ascent of the Eiger North Face in 1962 and many others.
In the summer of 2015 I spent a day with him at his home in Rovereto and photographed him for my book. A very soulful, sweet guy and we enjoyed each other's company, a nice lunch and shared a lot of laughs… despite not speaking a lick of each other’s language.
There are some interesting words about him, and by him, here:
Riposa in pace, Armando, e grazie.
