Matteo Della Bordella

Born and raised in Varese, Lombardy, he began to frequent the mountains at the age of 12 with his father Fabio, climbing several classic routes in the Alps together.

After the first few years he developed a passion for high difficulty climbing on large walls and in 2005 he free climbed the legendary "Via attraverso il pesce" on the south face of the Marmolada. In the same year, together with Fabio Palma, he opened the difficult "Portami Via" on the Wendenstocke limestone, which to date has only been repeated by climbers of the calibre of Ueli Steck, Simon Anthamatten and Tommy Caldwell.

In 2006 he joined the prestigious Ragni di Lecco group and, in 2008, he was admitted to the Italian Academic Alpine Club.

In 2012, after obtaining a PhD in engineering, he decided to abandon his academic career to devote himself full time to mountaineering. Thus began an extraordinary career, which led him to enter the ranks of the strongest exponents of contemporary technical mountaineering.

His favorite terrain is mountains and vertical walls located in remote and wild places on the planet, where he climbs at high difficulties.

Here the challenge lies first of all in being able to reach your goal (possibly with a "by fair means" approach, on skis or by sea with a kayak) and then in trying to climb, preferably free climbing, with the equipment reduced to a minimum.

With this style Matteo has left an indelible mark on many of the world's greatest walls, from Patagonia to Greenland, passing through the Karakorum, India and Baffin Island. "The mountaineering I like - he himself summarizes - is the essential, concrete, light one, which puts the mountaineer in a comparison on equal terms with the mountain".

2012 - Free ascent of the route "Freerider" on El Capitan, Yosemite (USA). First Italian to free climb one of the great routes on El Capitan.
2013 - First ascent of the South-West Face of Uli Biaho Tower (6109m), Pakistan.
2013 - First ascent of the West Face of Torre Egger (2885m), internationally recognized as one of the last unclimbed big walls in Patagonia.
2014 - Opening of the route "The Great Shark Hunt" on the Shark's Tooth wall, in Greenland. Expedition "by fair means" in complete autonomy: 420 km by kayak and 50 km on foot to and from the wall.
2016 - Expedition "by fair means" to Baffin Island, where the group approaches (180 km) on skis and opens 7 new climbing routes. Return to civilization with inflatable rafts.
2016 - First alpine-style repeat of the "Via dei Ragni" on the East Face of Fitz Roy (3359m), Patagonia.
2017 - First ascent of the East Face of Cerro Murallon (2780m), Patagonia.
2018 - First overall ascent of Cerro Riso Patron Sud (2350m), in Patagonia; "by fair means" expedition in complete autonomy, with approach by kayak.
2019 - First ascent of the West Face of Bhagirathi IV (6192 m), Indian Himalaya.
2021 - Opening of the "Forum" route on the Siren Tower (Greenland); "by fair means" expedition in complete autonomy, with 350 meters of approach by kayak.
2022 - Opening of the route "Brothers in arms", first ascent in alpine style of the East and North faces of Cerro Torre (3128 m), in Patagonia.
2022 - Alpine Value - new route on the east face of Siula Grande (6344 m)
2023 - ¿Qué mirás, bobo?, new route on Aguja Mermoz, with a development of 500 meters and a maximum difficulty of 7b
2023 - Care Bear Traverse, first Italian repetition, over 5 kilometers with almost 4000 meters of altitude difference and difficulty up to 7a (5.11d) C1 65