83-year-old rock climber moves a mountain to achieve the impossible

Armando Corvini is an 83-year-old rock climber and that is a story in itself, however, he also lost all his fingers and toes to frostbite – yet he continues to climb.

“There is no secret,” he laughs, “I just climb.”

When we caught up for a chat at his Deakin home, Armando was surrounded by mountaineering books and photos of his summiting successes. He had just been rockclimbing the day before at White Rocks near Queanbeyan.

“Climbing is a major piece of my life,” he says. When he was 49, Armando went to the Himalayas to summit a 7,160-metre high peak, Pumori. But he wanted more.

“When you go there you get a bug for the mountains, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. So, when I came back, I wondered if I could do an 8000-metre mountain before I turned 60.”

When he was 56, Armando led an expedition to the Himalayas with five other Canberrans. To acclimatise, they tackled the south east ridge of Ama Dablam, in the Mt Everest region. It had only ever been climbed twice.

Unusually for the time of year (winter is usually dry), snow was falling heavily. What should have been a five-and-a-half day ascent turned into 12 days.

“We were well prepared and very experienced mountaineers but the weather was against us,” Armando says. “All six of us suffered frostbite to a different degree. Because I was the leading leader, I got the brunt of the frostbite.”

Fast-forward to today, and Armando runs his own rockclimbing business, Guided Outdoor Adventures, sharing his love of the outdoors with young people. He has the YMCA to thank for it.

“I have lived two lives, the first one is when I’m very young, very bold, nothing will stop me. And then, the story that I really like is after my accident.”

Armando began volunteering at the YMCA, helping stroke patients with mobility, There, he realised that his disability wasn’t so bad after all.

“I can’t climb the gradient that I used to climb,” he says. “If you see me climbing, you’d never imagine I have no toes and no fingers. I have my own style.”

To find out more, visit guidedoutdooradventures.net.au

- Georgia Curry

Saturday 22 Ju ly