Let us go in chronological order: at the age of 12 she climbs her first 4000-metre peak (Gran Paradiso), at 13 her first alpine north face (Piccola Ciamarella), at 18 she masters the Via degli svizzeri on Grand Capucin and at 24 the Supercouloir on Mont Blanc du Tacul.

What follows, after a degree in architecture with a thesis called “Bivouac hut at 3500 metres”, are countless ascents on ice and rock, the most outstanding being her solo climbs of Polar Circus in Canada and Zodiac on El Capitan. Nevertheless, Anna Torretta (Turin, 1971), meanwhile a professional mountain guide, shows no intention of feeling contented: she collects very good results in competitions and excels in modern mixed climbing, braving the Colton-McIntyre route on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses. Then she puts herself to the test on Ama Dablam (6856 m, alone) and on the mountains of Afghanistan until she attempts Cho Oyu (8201 m) in 2010.

After having spent a few years in Innsbruck (where she founded the female mountain climbing school “Avventura donna”), she moved to Courmayeur in 2004, where she still lives working as a mountain guide.