UKC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28696985

In reply to mh554:

Yeah, read that this morning.

I knew about the "bad blood" between the Italian climbers, seems to have been a part of their scene in the 1950s, but didn't realise that Mehdi wasn't equipped with HA kit. When I went to Pakistan in the 1980s the rules stated that any local who went beyond base camp had to be equipped to the same standard as the climbing team, possibly this came about following the K2 incident.

I'm sure Luca who posts on here occasionally has written about Bonatti's exclusion by the Italian climbing establishment.

In reply to mh554:

Thanks for that - I was aware of the general story and of the bad blood between Bonatti and the others - weren't they all Cortina Squirrels - but the stuff about a deliberate move of the camp was news to me. Pretty shocking.

In reply to mh554:

The brilliant David Roberts has written an important book on this topic, though with the focus on Bonatti called 'True Summit'.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

>> What were "Cortina squirrels"?

In reply to mockerkin:


http://cortina.dolomiti.org/index.cfm/experience/Vertical-Park-eng/

"Among the numerous areas for free climbing activities is the historic 5 Torri area with an incredible 108 routes, which is where the legendary red-shirted Cortina Scoiattoli (Squirrels) climbing club was formed back in 1939."

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoiattoli_di_Cortina

In reply to mh554:

Good article... The treacherous gits would certainly have been crying like babies, for an altogether different reason, if they'd left me for dead and then sought a reunion 40 years later!

In reply to zebidee:

So it was just Lacedelli who was in the Cortina Squirrels. We were in Cortina in 2004 and they was a lot of stuff to commemorate the ascent, although my wife couldn't understand why she kept on seeing surfing squirrels everywhere

http://www.flagsonline.it/Bandiere/bangrandi/cortina.jpg

In reply to mh554:

The BBC produced a book and documentary "Mountain Men" Tall Tales and High Adventure. Where this story is included. Also at the start of the expedition another top climber Riccardo Cassin was rejected after medical checks, (though later results confirmed him to be in top condition, even so he was still excluded in the end.

In reply to ericinbristol:

True Summit is a really good book. It is about the French on Annapurna, not Italians on K2.

In reply to mh554:

It hardly paints a positive picture of mountaineering. Compagnoni's actions were disgusting.

In reply to lowersharpnose:

Oops you re right - my memory playing tricks on me there. Thanks for the correction.

In reply to ericinbristol:

Are you thinking of "K2 - Lies and Treachery" by Robert Marshall?

I think I might have that book, or another one that came out around the same time, translated from the original Italian IIRC.