Ivano Ghirardini is an Italian-born French mountaineer.

He was born in Montefiorino

Montefiorino

Montefiorino is a comune in the Province of Modena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 60 km southwest of Bologna and about 40 km southwest of Modena....

 in Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna

Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....

. He left Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 with his family in 1954 and was naturalized in 1972.

He attended school in Marseille

Marseille

Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

, earning a Baccalaureate in mathematics. He learned to climb in Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban

Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban

Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban is a commune in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in southeastern France.-Population:Its inhabitants are referred to as Jarlandins.-Places of interest:...

 and at Sisteron

Sisteron

Sisteron is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.Sisteron is situated on the banks of the River Durance just after the confluence of the rivers Buëch and Sasse...

.

North face trilogy

In 1975, he made his first solo winter ascent of the north face of the Grandes Jorasses

Grandes Jorasses

The Grandes Jorasses is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif.The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain was by Horace Walker with guides Melchior Anderegg, Johann Jaun and Julien Grange on 30 June 1868...

 via the Shroud (Le Linceul). In January 1977, he attempted a winter solo ascent of the Matterhorn

Matterhorn

The Matterhorn , Monte Cervino or Mont Cervin , is a mountain in the Pennine Alps on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Its summit is 4,478 metres high, making it one of the highest peaks in the Alps. The four steep faces, rising above the surrounding glaciers, face the four compass points...

, but failed due to a storm. However, he was successful on his second attempt in December of the same year. He soloed the Grandes Jorasses again in January 1978 (the Croz Spur), and then the north face of Eiger

Eiger

The Eiger is a mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m...

 in March 1978, thereby becoming the first mountaineer to solo all three of the "trilogy

Great north faces of the Alps

In mountaineering, the six great north faces of the Alps are known for their difficulty and great height. They are:*Cima Grande di Lavaredo*Eiger*Grandes Jorasses*Matterhorn*Petit Dru*Piz Badile...

" (the north faces of the Matterhorn, Grandes Jorasses and Eiger) in winter.

K2

He attempted K2

K2

K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest...

 twice in 1979, both times having to give up due to stormy conditions. He made a solo bivouac without oxygen at 8,300m.

Mitre Peak

In 1980, Ghirardini climbed Mitre Peak

Mitre Peak (Pakistan)

Mitre Peak is a mountain in the Karakoram mountain range near Concordia in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.-External links:*...

 in the Karakoram

Karakoram

The Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...

 in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, again solo. He is the only mountaineer to date to have done so.

Aconcagua

First solo climb of the south wall, in four days, following the French Route-1954 and taking the Messner's variation, reached the summit in January 1981 making this remarkable first.

Reve Ephemere D’Alpiniste, Grandes Jorasses

Ghirardini, 1994, V 5, 6a, A2, 65°, 800m, between pt Margarita and pt Young, ephemeral couloir. The first part was climbed with Slavko Sveticic, then Ghirardini soloed the last section.

New routes

• Aig.Pierre André, Three super "dirictissimes" on East, North and South Face, all ED.
• Aiguille de Saussure, "Vacances d'alpinistes", with Joshua Geetter.
• Aiguille Noire de Peuterey, Hard route on NE face, ED, with Joshua Geetter.
• Grandes Jorasses, Pointe Young, "Cristal Palace", a solo ascent.
• Pointe Durier, Hard new route on SW face, with Franck and Philippe Henry.