Camandona completes collection of eight-thousanders, “almost a game”

(ANSA) – AOSTA, JULY 30 – “It wasn’t a ‘duty’ but almost a game, a personal pleasure. The peaks came one after the other and then when the 14th started to get closer, the idea of ​​trying to climb them all materialized, always with professionalism, preparation, concentration and a lot of determination”. This is what the Aosta Valley mountain guide Marco Camandona said from Pakistan: on Sunday 28 July he entered the history of mountaineering, conquering the summit of Gasherbrum 1 and thus completing the climb of all 14 eight-thousanders on Earth. The first time he proudly waved the red and black Aosta Valley flag was in 1998, on Cho Oyu (8,210 metres). He is now the 41st climber (the twentieth without oxygen) to succeed in the feat. Camandona and Dante Luboz, who reached the summit on Sunday, even took photos without gloves: “It feels great, an incredible day,” Marco told his wife, calling her from the summit. “A special thanks,” the mountaineer said today, “goes to my parents and in particular to my wife Barbara who has always supported me, helped me and encouraged me in the darkest moments and has always ‘tolerated’ the long periods of absence from home.” For this reason, “now the time has come to return to our families. The desire to see a bit of greenery and flowers is great after 40 days of gray and white,” Camandona concluded. (ANSA).