The moment is almost here. After forty days of base camp, tomorrow we’ll begin climbing the mountain for the final assault.  In view of its grandeur and the susceptible nature that it has shown in terms of the weather lately, perhaps it would be better to say that we’ll start climbing softly and on tiptoe so as not to disturb her and risk reawakening those winds that have covered her for over a month.  In these forty days my mood has gone through various states: from depression and the desire to return home, to sadness when Abele’s expedition was hit by the serac and Christian Kuntner was lost, to the desire to attack when I am feeling strong.  As of now we’ve been waiting almost ten days at the ABC for the starting signal and every day we feel as though we are losing energy.  The various changes in program due to the delay in the intermission of good weather make us a little dejected every once in a  while.  The strength of the group, the fact of being together to discuss the problem, and expressing our doubts have helped us to recover our good spirits within the group.  During this period at the ABC we have missed Antonio, Luigi and, most of all, Bruno who with his incredible motivation and simplicity has always brought cheerfulness to the group.  In three days we’ll all be on the mountain for him, ready to give our best, and we’re sure that he will gratify us with a performance that will be something incredible for a human being.

Christian Cesa