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At the top of Monte Rosa, the journey of amputee athletes

“Difficulties are constant in daily life for the disabled. You have to live together by finding suitable solutions for you starting right from the management. It takes patience to find a balance and a spirit of acceptance because not everything can be done. We are not superheroes, but disabled people who have limits as all people have». Moreno Pesce tells the story of everyday life as he prepares to face a feat that is exceptional. The AMA-Billy project sees him and five other sportsmen with an artificial limb climb along the route of the Monte Rosa SkyMarathon® AMA, the highest race in Europe, up to the Capanna Margherita at 4.

554m on Monte Rosa.

Osprey, brand leader di backpacks, is the technical sponsor of the AMA-bilmente project from 15 to 20 June in the Alagna Monte Rosa area.

He is the 46-year-old Moreno Pesce, passionate about the mountains since he was a child, amputated following a motorcycle accident. With him Cesare Galli, Lino Cianciotto, Loris Miloni, Massimo Coda and Salvatore Cutaia, four with amputations below the knee and two with high amputations, above the knee. Each of them will be joined by two volunteers, a guide and a climbing partner.

«Invalidity is not just a physical concept, but an ideology well rooted in common thinking, who sees the disabled as a marginalized person with few physical possibilities. The aim is to break down the immense psychological mountain of disability by facing the real mountain ”, explains Pesce.

After the accident he began a life journey with his partner, met after the amputation, and the couple’s daughter. «The mountain has always been one passion which had ended up in oblivion and which I rediscovered as disabled. It was a winning bet because I had fears related to my possible limits “, he says, recalling the laceration of the skin after a long time wearing the protasis, but also the many workouts that are needed to have safety, to avoid giving in to the” good leg ” .

He gets to do extreme mountaineering, “because we work in an environment at 4000 meters that is not that of the weekend walk”. It is the victory over the edge of disability. “To tell you I’m not afraid of falling would be stupid. I made up my mind to try skating with one leg. I fell and fractured my hand. However I am experiencing my disability as a normality. We are all disabled in some way. The dark moments serve as a life experience and to give support to others ».

When he has reached the goal he always thinks about the next one. “When I face a challenge, I evaluate it and then it may be that I can’t, but I don’t get discouraged. I know it’s not easy. For Monte Rosa it is the fifth attempt, but I go on with irony, smiling when I can’t. The important thing is to do everything safely ».

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