He was an Italian mountain climber, explorer and journalist. He was noted for his many climbing achievements, including a solo climb of a new route on the south-west pillar of the Aiguille du Dru in August 1955, the first ascent of Gasherbrum IV in 1958 and in 1965 the first solo climb in winter of the North face of the Matterhorn on the mountain's centenary year of its first ascent. Immediately after his extraordinary solo climb on the Matterhorn Bonatti announced his retirement from professional climbing at the age of 35 and after only 17 years of climbing activity. He authored many mountaineering books and spent the remainder of his career travelling off the beaten track as a reporter for the Italian magazine Epoca. He died on the 13 September 2011 of pancreatic cancer[1] in Rome aged 81,[2] and was survived by his life partner, the actress Rossana Podestà.
Famed for his climbing panache, he pioneered little known and technically difficult climbs in the Alps, Himalayas and Patagonia.
"Non esistono tue montagne, ma esistono tue esperienze; sulle montagne possono salirci altri, ma le tue esperienze non te le tocca nessuno" (W. Bonatti)
Nell'anno che mi ha fatto amare a pieno la montagna non potevo non leggere, nella bellissima riproposizione della prima edizione del 1961, Bonatti. Bonatti ha la rara capacità di essere "grande" senza cadere nella retorica, di essere tragico senza essere patetico. La tragedia del Pilone Centrale del Monte Bianco o la spedizione sul K2 con tutto quello che ha portato di polemiche negli anni successivi qua sono rappresentati allo stesso modo in maniera analitica ma con calore umano. La penna di Bonatti scorre bene, ha qualche ingenuità come italiano ma è viva, vivida e chiara come le "sue" montagne.
والتر بوناتی، کوهنورد جوان ایتالیائی پس از حوادث و اتفاقات پیش آمده در اولین صعود کی دو برای همیشه از کوهنوردی حرفه ای خداحافظی کرد و به صعود های شخصی رو اورد. 7 سال پس از آن، بوناتی برای اولین بار دیواره شمالی و 1200 متری ماترهورن را در زمستان و انفرادی صعود کرد. این کتاب شرح آن صعود است.