“Helping to restore a remarkable sub-Antarctic wildlife reserve, Marion Island, home to millions of seabirds in crisis”. Alec and Massi Carpigo in cold weather climbing gear.
Earlier this year twin brothers Alessandro and Massimiliano Carpigo successfully summited two of the world’s most iconic mountains in a Twin Peaks Challenge in support of the Saving Marion Island’s Seabirds: The Mouse-Free Marion (MFM) Project. Their Givergy online appeal via the Swiss Polar Foundation has raised the remarkable sum of UK£21 984, equivalent to half a million Rands, to mark their climbing achievements.
On 23 June this year they climbed Mont Blanc on the French/Italian border. At 4805 m it is the highest mountain in the Alps, and the second highest in Europe. Two months later, on 09 August, they climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, attaining Uhuru Peak, the mountain’s highest point in the company of their father, Ric Carpigo “after seven days of climbing through rainforest, alpine desert, and icy summit slopes”, followed by a 16-hour descent. “Kili”, at 5895 m, is the highest mountain in Africa and stated to be the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world.
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Three members of the Carpigo family celebrate on Kilimanjaro’s Uhuru Peak
On a personal note, I have summited both Marion Island and nearby Prince Edward Island on more than one occasion. However, at 1244 and 672 m above sea level, respectively, my climbs do not in any way match the impressive ascents of Alec and Massi – for which the MFM Project team is both impressed and grateful!
The Carpigo twins are not the only members of their family working in support of the MFM Project. Their mother, Britta Carpigo, was the organiser of a gala dinner in Geneva, Switzerland in May which raised funds for the project.
John Cooper. News Correspondent, Mouse-Free Marion Project, 04 November 2025
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Light-mantled Albatross near Marion Island, January 2025, photograph by Laurie Smaglick Johnson
The Mouse-Free Marion Project is a registered non-profit company (No. 2020/922433/08) in South Africa, established to eradicate the invasive albatross-killing mice on Marion Island in the Southern Ocean. The project was initiated by BirdLife South Africa and the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. Upon successful completion, the project will restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds, many globally threatened, and improve the island’s resilience to a warming climate. For more information or to support the project please visit mousefreemarion.org.
