Francesco Favilli and Filippo Zanin perish in Dolomites climbing accident

Shocking, devastating news once again. Two expert Italian mountaineers, Francesco Favilli and Filippo Zanin, perished on Tuesday while climbing the south face of Marmolada in the Dolomites. According to initial reports, the two were climbing via Don Quixote when, for reasons yet to be ascertained, they fell to their deaths, possibly on the initial pitches. Their bodies were located and recovered early yesterday morning by the Mountain Rescue squads.

Favilli and Zanin were extremely competent, well-known and loved in the climbing community, as well as two pillars of the footwear manufacturer SCARPA, for which Favilli was Brand Manager of the mountain category, while Zanin worked in the marketing department.

Both practiced mountaineering in all its forms, from bouldering to alpinism in the high mountains, following their instinct and the changing seasons. Ski mountaineering or ice climbing in winter, cragging and multi-pitch routes in summer. Obviously there was also time for trudging up the classic 4000ers in the Alps or - the exact opposite and yet paradoxically so similar - hard bouldering in South Africa's Rocklands. Their intense passion was never put into question, neither were their skills.

A few days ago Zanin climbed the north ridge of Pizzo Bernina, that beautiful Biancograt ridge that takes your breath away for how it juts majestically skywards, while last winter Favilli, together with Christian Casanova and Mathieu Maynadier, established with one cold bivy Mixte feeling on the NE Face of Civetta. For both of them the mountains, in all their various facets, represented a sort of life compass. Today it feels like it has lost its north.