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Italian mountaineer accused of faking summit selfies
One of Italy's best known mountaineers has been accused of using stolen pictures and photoshopped images to fake the number of summits he has scaled.
Marco Confortola, 54, announced last month that he had climbed all 14 peaks of more than 8,000 metres in the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges — including Everest — joining an exclusive club of about 50 mountaineers who have managed the feat.
Confortola's achievement was doubly impressive since all his toes were amputated after his feet froze during a storm in 2008 on K2, the world's second highest peak.
But he was quickly challenged by Simone Moro, another Italian mountaineer, who alleged that Confortola had failed to make the summit of six of the peaks, including Kangchenjunga in the Himalayas. Moro claimed that Confortola had used a photo of the peak taken by a Pakistani climber, whom Confortola allegedly cropped out.
Moro also claimed that Confortola had photoshopped himself into a picture taken at the peak of Lhotse by the Spanish climber Jorge Egocheaga, after removing Egocheaga from the image.
'Confortola added a bit of snow blowing in wind, but the shade on the mountain is identical,' Moro told The Times.
Moro said the first climber to accuse Confortola was Silvio Mondinelli, who alleged that Confortola's ascent of Annapurna in Nepal stopped short of the peak.
'It seemed to be a row between those two, but then other climbers asked me to look into it because of my reputation,' said Moro, who has not climbed all 14 peaks but was the first to scale four of them in winter. Moro said he had already been told by sherpas who climbed Kangchenjunga with Confortola that he had not made it.
'Confortola has also admitted in the past that he did not make it to the summit of Nanga Parbat,' Moro claimed.
• Mountaineers piqued by claim they fell short of highest summits
In interviews this week, Confortola denied the allegations and claimed peers such as Moro were driven by jealousy. 'It is because I am 'simpatico'. I speak about my exploits to companies who call me to give motivational speeches and I have written five books,' he told La Stampa.
He also told the mountaineering publication Lo Scarpone that he had taken the photo at the top of Lhotse, and claimed that Mondinelli had previously backed his claim that he made it to the top of Annapurna.
'Who does Simone Moro think he is?' he said, adding: 'My mistake was not dying on K2 in 2008 — that way these stars would have been happy.'
Moro responded: 'Confortola is making it personal because he lacks proof to back up his claims. Even Reinhold Messner has said he is a joke.'
Messner, the legendary Italian climber, now 80, was the first to climb all 14 peaks in 1986. 'More Italians have climbed the 14 than any other nation but Confortola is hurting Italy's reputation and reinforcing the worst stereotypes about Italians,' Moro claimed.
Moro added that claiming to conquer the peaks was increasingly less impressive. 'These days there are agencies who offer them as a package, laying on sherpas and helicopters,' he said. 'It is becoming like a safari or cruise holiday.'
