Roberto Sorgato

"The Climbers" is a six-part documentary series tracing the history of mountaineering. Directed by Chris Bonington and Richard Else, it was produced by the BBC and broadcast in 1992. The series recounts the evolution of mountaineering and the traditions of climbers in Great Britain and on the European continent: the former developed a free climbing technique, while the latter used aids such as keys, pitons, and drills to ascend otherwise inaccessible routes. The program includes archive footage of the pioneers of the sport, from the emergence of free climbing as a distinct discipline in the late 1970s and 1980s to the advent of competitions.

Three famous climbers, the Frenchman Pierre Mazeaud, the German Winfried Ender and the Italian Roberto Sorgato, meet up at the bottom of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo and decide to join together in a single roped party, climbing the 'Direttissima' on the north face of the Cima Grande di Lavaredo. The beautiful film illustrates with precise sequences the climb of the route, that was opened in 1958 by the filmmaker himself, Lother Brandler. The film wants to highlight the idea of frienship, cooperation, fraternity and peace showing three men from historically-confronted nationalities roped and working together as a single team. The film won the Grand Prix at the Trento Film Festival in 1964.

Pierre Mazeau has managed to unite three of his passions which seem to have nothing in common, at a very high level: mountaineering, jurisprudence and policy. The Everest mountaineer, rescued from the Freney Pillar, the passionate jurist, the former sports minister, privy counsellor, and president of the French Constitutional Court is a charismatic personality. This sensitive film portrait follows a line, which Pierre Mazeaud himself has quoted: “Alpinism belongs to those who provide themselves with means to reach their goals, to those who are fully committed to a goal, to those, who know the value of solidarity of men, and to those who are aware that true human existence can only be fulfilled by proceeding with a team of roped-partners.”

From Trento to Chamonix, via Zermatt; from the Morgiou cove to the Eiger's north face; from Planica to the Lavaredo peaks, the Alps are depicted, illustrated, and magnified in all their unique and sublime beauty, through the sports practiced there and the most typical customs and traditions of their inhabitants. A helicopter rescue and a parachute jump from the Red Wall by Wolfgang Weizenbocks are experiences not to be missed.

Mountaineers Roberto Sorgato and Ignazio Piussi relive their 1961 adventure: the first winter ascent of the north face of Cima Ovest di Lavaredo, a formidable Dolomite wall reaching 2,973 meters. During this expedition, Sorgato accidentally fell 60 meters while the climbers were preparing their third bivouac and found himself suspended in mid-air by a rope. Through sheer perseverance, ingenuity, and courage, he managed to pull himself back to his partner. The film, shot eleven years later, is a reenactment with the protagonists playing themselves. The difficulties this climb presents, even for the most experienced climbers, are irrefutably highlighted. The film received the Genziana d'Oro award at the Trento Film Festival in 1973.