Moro has made a name for himself over the last two decades for his pioneering winter expeditions to peaks over 8000m and his bravery in alpine search and rescue.
Moro began his talk by acknowledging New Zealand’s own alpine pioneers, including Sir Edmund Hillary, who achieved the first ascent of Mount Everest with his Nepalese climbing partner Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
It didn’t matter if young people chose different goals — just so long as they ignored the word "impossible", he said
Most hands in the Lake Wānaka Centre were raised when Moro asked his teenage audience how many had tried skiing.
He was also impressed by the numbers who had taken winter dips in Lake Wānaka, saying as a winter specialist, even he was reluctant to get in the cold water.
Moro explained his father was an Italian road cycling champion who encouraged his three children to try many different sports and go on outdoor mountain holidays.
He began dreaming about becoming a professional mountaineer aged about 15.
"My parents never made me feel ridiculous," he said — adding to ripples of laughter: "I had teachers who told me I would never do anything good in my life".
"Don’t believe in the word impossible. The possible exists in yourself ... But you have to be your main sponsor, the protaganist in your own story," Moro said.
The way to achieve goals was to focus on them, study them, learn about then and not be tempted to change your mind every year, he said.
He encouraged the teenagers to aim high with whatever goal they set for themselves and put their full energy and commitment into giving it a go.
He invited them to imagine what they might need to do to achieve a goal.
"It is a frozen world, but I am not complaining because I choose to go there," he added.
"When you decide to do something, it doesn’t exist for you that you complain about the difficulties. Always remind yourself when you choose to do something, ‘I am here because I want to be here’," he said.
Moro said he was inspired by Polish climbers who set the standard for winter climbing achievements in the 1970s and 1980s.
He reminded the teens succeeding was a lottery; that renowned Polish winter climber Krzysztof Wielicki estimated there was just a 10% chance of succeeding in winter.
"What I did is exactly what you could do in your own dream. The dream has to become an intention, a project. Then you have to start to walk. Be ready.
"You will fail. I failed many times. Failing is normal. It is a test of strength and motivation. The ones who achieve their dream stand back up and try again," Moro said to applause.
Information:
WHAT: Simone Moro
WHERE: Queenstown Memorial Centre
WHEN: Thursday June 27, 7.30pm to 10.30pm.
MORE INFO: mountainfilm.nz
