On the roof of Europe

What can drive a 12-year-old to reach the top of Mont Blanc at an altitude of 4,810? What can convince that small but brave climber to face his dangerous climbs, which require about eight hours of walking before being granted the privilege of admiring the world from the roof of Europe? And in extreme conditions, such as to make even breathing difficult, choosing the longest and most tiring route, the Italian route, leaving out the other two which would have required less sweat.

What can persuade an 11-year-old child not to settle for having already climbed the 3,841 m of Monviso and the 4,478 m of the Matterhorn? And instead look for an even more difficult, exclusive undertaking, which requires very specific physical and technical preparation, and which includes excursions to high altitudes to acclimatize the body and avoid altitude sickness, dangerous and typical at these heights where the air is thinner. Could recklessness, curiosity, the feeling of immortality, the absence of precariousness, common in that age group, be enough to make him carry out such complex undertakings? Or is it necessary to add something deeper, such as passion, dreams, to conquer such inhospitable peaks?

Federico talks about his exploits as a simple passion that allows him to make dreams come true, validating the most romantic version, the one in which feeling becomes a passe-partout to achieve every goal, and so do I I agree, even though with age I've understood that dreams and goals aren't always fueled by passion alone – which evidently guarantees their integrity – because annoying unknown factors often arise. Thus our frailties begin to feed our defects, and without realizing it, selfishness, common in many of us, or social climbing, equally widespread, as well as greed, megalomania, greed, extinguish the our light and blind us. And without a view, reaching the top becomes complicated. However, age has also taught me that deep down you can always decide which dreams or goals you prefer to pursue, which path you want to leave your footprints on, what becomes essential for living and what instead becomes superfluous or even harmful. It all depends on us. Here then is that the passion of Federico, Giulietta, Gabriele, Leonardo, and that of thousands of other young dreamers becomes a seed to be treated, with concrete examples of aware adults, breaking down the distrust of their young age and enhancing the love that is still unpolluted within them.

It is we adults who must make the most of every action undertaken by the children, as if they were sacred, trying to recognize the clues in which evil tries to take possession of the good by distorting the positive origin of their feelings. No child is born without dreams, it is the world that often does everything to take them away.
When I met Federico I was looking for a new little protagonist to include in my column Ambiente Ciovani, which is broadcast on Striscia la Notizia every week and hosted by a small group of passionate kids . He deals with environmental issues on a weekly basis with simple language, suitable for the new generations, but which also become valuable information for those who neglect the importance of these issues.

One day, one of my collaborators told me about his deeds and I called him. Shortly afterwards it was broadcast for the first time on Canale 5, and his passion for peaks, climbing and nature also shines through clearly in his television services. But Federico doesn't want to become "famous", fortunately he doesn't have such human ambitions yet; he just wants to continue to dialogue with the mountains, the woods, the animals, with respect, with kindness, with the same passion as always and perhaps, unintentionally, that same passion will fuel that of many other boys.


Max Laudadio
NP February 2023