Adiós Iñaki Coussirat

Iñaki Coussirat came from S. Julian and was a mere 24 years old. The news is obviously extremely sad in absolute terms, and even more so since Coussirat was a highly original member of our climbing community. An artist of life, slightly loopy and carefree, who was rapidly amassing a series of great ascents in the Patagonian mountains.

Apart from having shared part of the ascent of the Ragni route on Cerro Torre in December 2014, I vividly remember him in Mistico, a bar where on Wednesday evenings anyone can come along and play their own music. A guy from Israel at the drums, an Argentine played the piano while my son Tommaso strummed away at the bass and… Iñaki played the flute. But Iñaki was playing melodies that were completely different from those of the other musicians. The crowd danced to the rhythm and some girls screamed "dale Gordo" (gordo was Iñaki’s nickname) as he continued unperturbed, drifting along his own notes. Just like when he climbed. I want to remember him like that, like in adjacent photo where he’s playing the flute, on the penultimate mushroom of the Ragni route on Cerro Torre.

Marcello Cominetti