Matteo Stella

Matteo was born in Rome in 1989 and studied Political Science between Rome and Milan. Upon completing his studies, he began his career at the European Parliament, an experience that immediately exposed him to international contexts and complex dynamics. However, after an initial professional stint in a corporate setting in Milan, he realized he wanted to pursue a different path, one more consistent with his values.

At 27, he made a radical choice: he left the city for the mountains. Here, he developed a new approach to life and work, based on simplicity, awareness, and adaptability. He began a journey of personal and sporting exploration that led him to explore various alpine disciplines, from ski mountaineering to climbing, from mountain running to mountain biking. He eventually discovered paragliding, which became a true metaphor for his journey: risk management, vision, and decision-making skills.

In 2019 he obtained his paragliding license and set off on his first mountaineering expedition to Denali (6190 m), the highest mountain in North America and considered the coldest mountain in the world.

In 2021, he took part in an expedition to Nepal aiming to climb Cholatse (6,440 m), one of the most technically challenging peaks in the Everest region. The challenging conditions forced the team to abandon the summit, but during the descent, they discovered an unexplored secondary peak. After several attempts, they managed to reach the summit, making a first ascent and renaming it “Santa Barbara Peak”: a concrete example of resilience, adaptation, and the ability to turn failure into opportunity.

In 2022, he took part in an expedition to Pakistan on Kosar Gang (6,040 m). Despite the complete loss of his food supplies on the eve of the final attempt, he and his climbing partner decided to continue, successfully reaching the summit: an extreme experience that highlighted leadership, resource management, and clarity under pressure.

In 2023, he further expanded his range of activities: he took part in an expedition to the Svalbard Islands, combining ski mountaineering and paragliding in an Arctic environment, and undertook his first solo bicycle trip across Iran, from Tehran to Shiraz, developing his decision-making autonomy and ability to manage uncertainty in complex contexts.

In 2024, he definitively left his traditional job, became a mountain bike guide, and began his journey to become a trekking guide. That same year, he faced one of his most significant challenges: a solo bicycle trip from Bogotá to Ushuaia, over 12,000 km across Latin America, completed in four months. A project that demonstrated determination, planning, and mental resilience.

In 2025, after obtaining his trekking guide qualification, he faces serious personal difficulties following a financial scam that leaves him without resources. Despite this, he chooses to start over and embarks on a new journey inspired by Marco Polo: from Beijing to Venice by bicycle.

Along the way, in January 2026, he became stranded in Afghanistan due to geopolitical tensions in the region. To meet his visa deadline, he took an extreme detour: over 1,100 km through the mountains, at altitudes of up to 3,500 meters, in the dead of winter, to Kabul. From there, he managed to leave the country and, once landed in Ankara, resumed his journey by bicycle to Courmayeur, completing over 13,000 km in five months.

Today, Matteo brings these experiences to the corporate world through training and motivational interventions, translating extreme contexts into concrete skills: uncertainty management, leadership, resilience, decision-making, and adaptability.

His stories are not just adventure tales, but tools for reflecting on performance, change, and personal development in complex and ever-changing environments.