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Nives Meroi Italys Leading Lady of Mountaineering
17:22 p.m. EDT Aug 18, 2003
Nives Meroi is just off a stunning grand slam success in the Karakorums: Together with husband Romano Benet and fellow climber Luca Vuerich, she reached the summits of GI, GII and Broad Peak in a mere 20 days. With five 8000m peaks now under her belt, Nives became the Italy’s leading lady of the mountains.
She wastes no time letting moss gather beneath her boots. With Romano, Nives has put up several new routes in the Alps in addition to making numerous alpine style ascents among the highest peaks in the Himalaya.
She goes fast and tends to climb in threes.
Within ten months after becoming the first Italian woman to summit Nanga Parbat, she also summited Cho Oyu AND made the Central Peak of Shisha Pangma.
Earlier expeditions to K2 and Everest ended without summits, but not without note. In 1994, Nives became the first Italian woman to reach an altitude of 8450m on K2 as she, Romano and Filippo Sala opened a partial new route on the mountain’s North-Western face.
In 1996, during the most devastating year on Mount Everest, Nives and Romano attempted to scale the Mallory route on the North side, but severe weather prevented a summit.
On her first trip to Gasherbrum II in 2000, Nives and Romano attempted a new route on the peak’s North Face. A high avalanche and icefall risk ended the expedition at 6500m. They proceeded to climb five other 6000+m peaks of high technical difficulty before leaving the region.
This summer, on July 19, Nives returned to GII and made it to the summit. By August 8, she had also summited GI and Broad Peak.
Nives typically travels light, climbing alpine-style, without oxygen or high-altitude porters. As for training for 8000m climbs, Meroi states that since acclimatization for higher altitudes can only occur by ascending to higher altitudes, her best training is going up the mountains.
Nives Meroi is one of the new female top climbers, climbing light and fast, carrying the torch of Alison Hargreaves and other female mountaineering pioneers.
Image courtesy of Leyla Meroi
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