Achille Compagnoni

Achille Compagnoni (born September 26, 1914) is an Italian mountaineer. Together with Lino Lacedelli, he was the first man to reach the summit of K2 on July 31, 1954. The expedition was led by Ardito Desio. Compagnoni was born in Sant'Antonio Valfurva, in the province of Sondrio (Lombardy). There has been some controversy about claims that he and Lacedelli reached the summit of K2 after their oxygen supplies ran out, and that Walter Bonatti was responsible for this, although it was cleared in 1994 by the Italian courts, which came to the decision that Walter Bonatti was correct about the events that happened.

In 2008 the CLUB ALPINO ITALIANO recognised officially that Bonatti's version of the ascent was correct. Compagnoni and Lacedelli reached the summit with oxygen after putting the life of Bonatti and the hunzu Madhi in serious risk by denying them help at 8100 m.a.s.l. while they carried the oxygen suplies to the last camp. Desio did not mention anything about these tragic events in his official report.

Bibliography

The Mountains of My Life, Walter Bonatti.

See also

* Himalaya
* K2
* Ardito Desio
* Lino Lacedelli
* Walter Bonatti

External links

* [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0409/excerpt6.html K2 at 50: The Bitter Legacy]