Verso l’alto – orienting our focus toward higher things

The Italian words verso l’alto were scribbled onto the corner of a photograph in 1925 by soon-to-be-canonized Pier Giorgio Frassati, who was an avid alpinist.

Admittedly, I am not Catholic, but (compliments of one of my friends—Diane Brey—who is) I have enjoyed learning more about Frassati and his well-known saying.

Fr. John Nepil explains, “verso is an Italian preposition often translated as to or towards. It is not a verb concerning action, but instead a preposition concerning orientation.” Nepil continued, “alto is used as both an adjective meaning high, as well as a noun meaning height. The latter, used by Frassati, is significant because it is not the word for a physical mountain summit, which is la cima.”

Accordingly, verso l’alto is less about ascending to the peak of a literal mountain. Indeed, Nepil argues, “this famous maxim, properly understood, articulates something to be done while climbing.”

The pithy phrase has served as a rallying cry as well as a potent and symbolic expression of our loftiest aspirations for a century now. Maybe it will inspire you, too.

As devoted mountaineers and dutiful human beings, we are called to search for that which is above and beyond ourselves. Verso l’alto evokes spiritual undertones and has even become a mantra of sorts to guide our focus upward.

Spending weeks at a time away from civilized society and out in the wondrous natural world is restorative for the soul, healthy for the body, and clarifying for the mind. In short, it is good, beautiful, and true—simultaneously grounding and uplifting.

Over the years, I have climbed with people of nearly every faith and no faith. Regardless of philosophical and religious differences, we often share an understanding of the profound value in shifting our attention from the ordinary to the extraordinary, which mountaineering provides in spades to seekers of all stripes and backgrounds.

Verso l’alto.

Photo courtesy of Pasang Dawa Sherpa.

Robert Alt practicing verso l’alto — gazing up at Everest from Pumori High Camp at approximately 18,700 feet — in a candid moment captured by PaDawa.

Pumori sits on the Nepal/Tibet border just west of Everest, and its summit is around 23,500 feet. It was named by British mountaineer George Mallory in honor of his daughter. In the Sherpa language, “Pumo” means daughter/young unmarried girl and “Ri” means mountain. Sometimes climbers even refer to Pumori as Everest’s daughter.