Corrado ‘Korra’ Pesce died in an avalanche in Patagonia last season. Bureaucratic formalities may now keep his teenage daughter from receiving her due rights.
If you felt helpless or functionless in the wake of celebrated alpinist Korra Pesce’s death in January, you weren’t alone. Multiple recovery efforts failed to recover the 41-year-old’s body from its position on Patagonia’s Cerro Torre, and it now appears his remains will stay there. But the circumstance presents an unfortunate bureaucratic roadblock standing in his family’s way as they try to move on.
Because it’s impossible to bring Pesce’s remains down from the mountain, Argentinian authorities have not officially ratified his death. Technically, his status is still “missing,” which precludes his family from closure and prevents the transmission of various rights to his 13-year-old daughter.
A will, for instance, can only be executed with a death certificate. The alpinist’s sister, Lidia Pesce, outlined the dilemma in a Change.org petition.
“In addition to the great pain for the loss of Corrado, we are experiencing another tragedy,” she wrote. “We family members need Corrado’s death certificate as soon as possible to support the rights of his 13-year-old daughter.”
The teenager lost her father on January 28, when an avalanche peeled him off the east face of Cerro Torre. Pesce and Tomas Aguilo had just opened a new route on the tower’s north face, and the falling rock and snow hit them during a rest break on their way down.
Patagonian officials announced he “could no longer be alive” 3 days later. Shortly after, it became clear his body would be impossible to recover.
Many of Pesce’s family survive him; GearJunkie wishes them the best, considering the circumstances. To help out, you can sign the petition. As of this writing, it was approaching 1,700 signatures. At 2,500, Change.org estimates that local media may pick up the story.
