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Outside Magazine, October 2006

The Power of Two
Damian Benegas and Willie Benegas
Alpine Climbers

By Lindsay Yaw

O'Neill and Rigby | Cousins and Sullivan | Gerlach and Parsons | Stephenson and Boulden | Benegas and Benegas

Damian's "picky" food preferences don't allow for much expedition-meal variety. Willie has an annoying habit of removing the insoles from every pair of climbing shoes—which he shares with Damian—and losing them. But the differences end there. Identical twins, born 38 years ago in Argentina, the Benegas brothers live together in Salt Lake City and have completed more than 120 climbing expeditions as a team. "We do fight," admits Willie. "But we make up in ten minutes and go climbing." BIG MOMENT: Putting up the Crystal Snake, a 42-pitch, mixed ice and rock climb on the north face of Nepal's 25,790-foot Nuptse, in 2003. ROLE PLAY: "I'm the minimalist, and Damian's the gear monkey," says Willie. Responds Damian, "I'm better on hard-grade sport climbs, but he has more control over fear." YOUNG AND RESTLESS: "We grew up in a fishing village on Patagonia's Peninsula Valdés," says Willie. "When we were 12, we crossed the 40-mile-wide Golfo Nuevo in a homemade raft. We hiked five days to get home. Our mom was so mad she chased us with a broom." UP NEXT: Damian is off to Nepal and Tibet, to ski Cho Oyu, while Willie is considering his options. As Damian puts it, "We do everything to the max."




O'Neill and Rigby | Cousins and Sullivan | Gerlach and Parsons | Stephenson and Boulden | Benegas and Benegas