Age is No Obstacle: Senior Hiker Mario "The Mountain Goat" Locatelli
Brian D'Ambrosio
February 13, 2010
Short and bearded, about 5´ 4", at first look, most wouldn´t consider Mario to be capable of accomplishing such feats. However, just a short chat and closer examination of his sinewy muscles and calves, will convince you this robust 77 year-old has done what he claims - and much more.
Indeed, much has happened in the seven-plus decades since Locatelli, born near Milan, Italy, immigrated to the United States in 1948, with a brother, sister, and two cousins. Perhaps what´s most fascinating about Locatelli isn´t what he´s done but when he´s done it –and started doing it.
He moved to the Bitterroot Valley in 1973 following two years investigation. He, his wife, and four daughters were on their way to Yellowstone National Park when they drove through the valley and fell in love. He and his family bought 80 acres near Woodside at the onset of spring. He "worked like a jack ass" for two years as a wrecking contractor in Oregon to be able to purchase this land. He considered himself "semi-retired."
One year later, he and his wife of 22 years divorced. From the ashes of the divorce, he set himself the task of hiking all the drainages in the Bitterroot National Forest. Following years of solo attrition, he accomplished his goal. Later, Locatelli gained notoriety for the grueling "Mountain Goat Marathon" cross-country races he organized in the Bitterroot Mountains in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
"After my divorce," says Locatelli, "I used to go to the bars a lot and swap stories. I was as unhappy as possible. It didn´t take me long to realize that I had to do something else – something happy – with my life."
After bagging a few more of the western states´ highest points, Locatelli, at age 63, decided to make it his goal to visit the highest points in each of the Lower 48 states. In October of 2003, following eight years´ worth of exertion, this Highpointer successfully achieved that goal when he ascended New York´s Mt. Marcy.
On July 5, 2003, at 71 years and 6 months, Locatelli became the oldest man on record to summit Alaska´s Mount McKinley. Scaling the 20,320-foot peak completed his mission of reaching the summit of the highest mountains in all 50 states. It took 16 days to reach the summit of Denali and climb back down.
The feisty septuagenarian not only became the oldest person to climb the technically challenging Alaskan peak (a Japanese skier later eclipsed the mark), but one of only 130 people to summit the highest point in every U.S. state. Denali was the final piece to 50-peak completion. Once emotionally fulfilled, he did a headstand on the blustery summit.
For Mario Locatelli the mountains will always keep their mystery –and resultant peacefulness – and their poignancy is still searing. By their sustained giving, the ridgelines and rugged canyons erased his feelings of dislocation and emotional exile and gave urgency to self-reinvention. The Bitterroot Mountains will always hold the spirit of his life. He´s one of the lucky ones. From the time he headed out into the Selway-Bitterroot, in his late 50s, to the time he climbed Mt. McKinley, he saw life as a challenge, as well as a grand adventure in which he needed to play his part fearlessly. Nothing would hold him back, and even when the odd adversity arose, he saw it as part of his learning curve and accepted it with an elfin grin. Most of the secrets for longevity that the "Mountain Goat" promotes, well, aren´t really secrets at all: regular exercise strengthens bones, muscles, organs and joints. Without adequate exercise the body degenerates. As long as you have a body, it needs to be worked, challenged, strengthened, and exercised, even bodies of seniors.
"I try not to think about getting old," says Locatelli. "I feel young and fit. When I hike up a mountain, some of the guys behind me are half my age. I can still keep up with the best, and that´s a good feeling."
At 77, Mario Locatelli is just one of the many enormously active or successful doers and thinkers who, at 70 plus, continue to play at top performance. All could easily have slipped into the physical and emotional "retirement stage" years ago but they forged on – with vigor. Mario's secret? In a word, passion.
Scientists have put forward a raft of reasons for these differences over the years, ranging from lifestyle choices, such as smoking, to genes. For Locatelli, the mountains have provided longevity, resoluteness of purpose, a mean of clear thinking, a mode of extended physicality.
Peace of mind has become a strategy that Locatelli uses to test the truth and probe the unobstructed boundaries within. He sees now that when the mind lets go of the aggregates, it's happy. Hiking has allowed him wander in concentration, to let it all go. For years Locatelli told himself that he wasn´t going to carry these aggregates around; he was no longer going get riled up about them. Whatever pains there may still be, he doesn´t have to pay them any mind.
On the rugged slopes of Hamilton, Montana´s fittingly named Goat Mountain, many mornings, Locatelli, alone, bearded, with an enduringly fulgent pair of blue eyes, can be seen. The hike that he has done more than any over the years is the one leading up and down Goat Mountain. Though a short distance, 1.4 miles, it gains 1,698-feet of vertical. It´s certainly a good test for anyone, if you can cover it in less than one hour, roundtrip, you are in peak shape. Mountain Goat worthy perhaps.
"At 77, all I can say is that life is now good," says Locatelli.
Brian D'Ambrosio is the author of Age is No Obstacle: Mario Locatelli and the Healing Power of Hiking. The book is available at www.lulu.com.
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