Riccardo Cassin
Encyclopedia
Riccardo Cassin was an Italian
mountaineer
, developer of mountaineering equipment
and author.
, Friuli
, Cassin was one of the leading mountaineers of the inter-war period; in all, Cassin made a total of 2,500 ascents, of which over 100 were first ascent
s. In 1940 he married Irma, with whom he had three sons – Valentino, Pierantonio and Guido.
Cassin started mountaineering around 1930 together with a group known as the Ragni di Lecco (spiders of Lecco). In 1934, he made the first ascent of the Piccolissima of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo
. In 1935, after having repeated Emilio Comici's route on the north-west face of the Civetta, he climbed the south-eastern ridge of the Trieste Tower and, with Vittorio Ratti, made a new route of the north face of Cima Ovest di Lavaredo. In 1937, Cassin made his first climb on the granite
of the Western Alps. Over the course of three days, 14–16 July, he made the first ascent of the north-east face of Piz Badile
in the Val Bregaglia
(Bergell), Switzerland
, accompanied by Ratti, Gino Esposito, M. Molteni and G. Valsecchi, the latter two of whom died of exhaustion and exposure on the descent. This route is known today as the Cassin Route or the Via Cassin.
Perhaps his most celebrated first ascent was of the Walker Spur on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses
in the Mont Blanc massif
on 4–6 August 1938 with Esposito and Ugo Tizzoni. The alpine historian Helmut Dumler comments that this was "by then universally acknowledged as the finest alpine challenge." According to Claire Engel:
In 1939, together with Tizzoni, Cassin made the first ascent of a steep line on the north face of the Aiguille de Leschaux.
Cassin fought on the side of the partisans
against the German
occupiers. On 26 April, 1945, when he was chief partisan, both he and Ratti (who had accompanied him on several first ascents) attempted to stop a group of German soldiers from escaping to the Valtellina
and St Moritz, and Ratti was shot dead. Cassin was decorated for his actions in the partisan campaign during the years 1943–45.
Cassin was supposed to have been on the Italian expedition that made the first ascent of K2
in the Karakoram
in 1954. According to Cassin himself:
Following this experience, Cassin concentrated on organizing and leading expeditions, including the first ascent of Gasherbrum IV
in the Karakoram by Walter Bonatti
and Carlo Mauri
on 6 August 1958 and an expedition that climbed Jirishanka in the Andes
in 1960.
In 1961, Cassin was both leader and a successful ascentionist on the expedition that made the first ascent of the eponymous Cassin Ridge on Mount McKinley
in Alaska
, at that date the most technical route on the mountain. After this ascent President Kennedy
sent Cassin a telegram of congratulation, and had the Bay of Pigs
crisis not intervened, he was scheduled to meet Cassin. In 1975, Cassin led an expedition to the unclimbed south face of Lhotse
in the Himalaya, but this was unsuccessful as a result of bad weather.
in 1947. That year he produced his first rock piton
s; in 1948 he produced his first hammers, his first ice axes appeared in 1949, and 1950 saw the introduction of his karabiners. That same year he produced the "first eiderdown duvet jackets for non-European mountaineering expeditions", these going into production two years later. In 1958 he and his son produced their first harness
prototype; this went into production two years later, the same year that he introduced titanium
crampons
.
In 1967 the company became an Snc, and in the early 1980s it moved from Lecco to Valmadrera
. In 1997 the CAMP
company bought the Cassin trademark.
, Carlo Mauri, Walter Bonatti, Gianni Brera
and Candido Cannavò
.
He died in Piano dei Resinelli, Lecco, on 6 August 2009, aged 100.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
mountaineer
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
, developer of mountaineering equipment
Climbing equipment
A wide range of equipment is used during rock climbing. The most popular types of climbing equipment are briefly described in this article. The article on protecting a climb describes equipment commonly used to protect a climber against the consequences of a fall....
and author.
Life
Born at San Vito al TagliamentoSan Vito al Tagliamento
San Vito al Tagliamento is a comune in the Province of Pordenone in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 80 km northwest of Trieste and about 20 km southeast of Pordenone.-Main sights:...
, Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
, Cassin was one of the leading mountaineers of the inter-war period; in all, Cassin made a total of 2,500 ascents, of which over 100 were first ascent
First ascent
In climbing, a first ascent is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain, or the first to follow a particular climbing route...
s. In 1940 he married Irma, with whom he had three sons – Valentino, Pierantonio and Guido.
Alpinism
Tre Cime di Lavaredo
The Tre Cime di Lavaredo are three distinctive battlement-like peaks, in the Sexten Dolomites of northeastern Italy. They are probably one of the best-known mountain groups in the Alps...
. In 1935, after having repeated Emilio Comici's route on the north-west face of the Civetta, he climbed the south-eastern ridge of the Trieste Tower and, with Vittorio Ratti, made a new route of the north face of Cima Ovest di Lavaredo. In 1937, Cassin made his first climb on the granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
of the Western Alps. Over the course of three days, 14–16 July, he made the first ascent of the north-east face of Piz Badile
Piz Badile
Piz Badile is a mountain in the Bregaglia range in the Swiss canton of Graubünden and Italy, the border between the two countries running along the summit ridge. Its northeast face is considered one of the six great north faces of the Alps....
in the Val Bregaglia
Bregaglia Range
The Bregaglia Range is a small group of mostly granite mountains in Graubünden, Switzerland and the Province of Sondrio, northern Italy. It derives its name from the partly Swiss, partly Italian valley, the Val Bregaglia, and is known as Bergell in German...
(Bergell), Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, accompanied by Ratti, Gino Esposito, M. Molteni and G. Valsecchi, the latter two of whom died of exhaustion and exposure on the descent. This route is known today as the Cassin Route or the Via Cassin.
Grandes Jorasses
The Grandes Jorasses is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif.The first ascent of the highest peak of the mountain was by Horace Walker with guides Melchior Anderegg, Johann Jaun and Julien Grange on 30 June 1868...
in the Mont Blanc massif
Mont Blanc Massif
The Mont Blanc massif is a mountain range in the western Alps. It is named after Mont Blanc, at 4,810.45 m the highest summit of the Alps. It is located in France , Italy , and Switzerland...
on 4–6 August 1938 with Esposito and Ugo Tizzoni. The alpine historian Helmut Dumler comments that this was "by then universally acknowledged as the finest alpine challenge." According to Claire Engel:
In 1939, together with Tizzoni, Cassin made the first ascent of a steep line on the north face of the Aiguille de Leschaux.
World War II
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Cassin fought on the side of the partisans
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II...
against the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
occupiers. On 26 April, 1945, when he was chief partisan, both he and Ratti (who had accompanied him on several first ascents) attempted to stop a group of German soldiers from escaping to the Valtellina
Valtellina
Valtellina or the Valtelline valley ; is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its skiing, its hot spring spas, its cheeses and its wines...
and St Moritz, and Ratti was shot dead. Cassin was decorated for his actions in the partisan campaign during the years 1943–45.
Expedition leader
K2
K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest...
in the Karakoram
Karakoram
The Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...
in 1954. According to Cassin himself:
Following this experience, Cassin concentrated on organizing and leading expeditions, including the first ascent of Gasherbrum IV
Gasherbrum IV
Gasherbrum IV is the 17th highest mountain on Earth and the 6th highest in Pakistan. It is one of the peaks in the Gasherbrum massif.The Gasherbrums are a remote group of peaks located at the northeastern end of the Baltoro Glacier in the Karakoram range of the Himalaya. The massif contains three...
in the Karakoram by Walter Bonatti
Walter Bonatti
Walter Bonatti was an Italian mountain climber. He is noted for a solo climb of a new route on the south-west pillar of the Aiguille du Dru in August 1955 and the first solo winter ascent of the Matterhorn north face in 1965.-Life and career:Bonatti was born in Bergamo...
and Carlo Mauri
Carlo Mauri
Carlo Mauri was an Italian mountaineer and explorer.Mauri was born in Lecco. Among his early climbs in the Alps two stand out: the first winter ascent of the via Comici route on the northern face of Cima Grande di Lavaredo; and the first solitary ascent of the Poire of Mont Blanc.Numerous...
on 6 August 1958 and an expedition that climbed Jirishanka in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
in 1960.
In 1961, Cassin was both leader and a successful ascentionist on the expedition that made the first ascent of the eponymous Cassin Ridge on Mount McKinley
Mount McKinley
Mount McKinley or Denali in Alaska, United States is the highest mountain peak in North America and the United States, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.- Geology and features :Mount McKinley is a granitic pluton...
in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, at that date the most technical route on the mountain. After this ascent President Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
sent Cassin a telegram of congratulation, and had the Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
crisis not intervened, he was scheduled to meet Cassin. In 1975, Cassin led an expedition to the unclimbed south face of Lhotse
Lhotse
Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain on Earth and is connected to Everest via the South Col. In addition to the main summit at 8,516 metres above sea level, Lhotse Middle is and Lhotse Shar is...
in the Himalaya, but this was unsuccessful as a result of bad weather.
Mountaineering equipment
Cassin began designing and producing mountaineering equipment in LeccoLecco
Lecco is a town of c. 47,760 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan, the capital of the province of Lecco. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como...
in 1947. That year he produced his first rock piton
Piton
In climbing, a piton is a metal spike that is driven into a crack or seam in the rock with a hammer, and which acts as an anchor to protect the climber against the consequences of a fall, or to assist progress in aid climbing...
s; in 1948 he produced his first hammers, his first ice axes appeared in 1949, and 1950 saw the introduction of his karabiners. That same year he produced the "first eiderdown duvet jackets for non-European mountaineering expeditions", these going into production two years later. In 1958 he and his son produced their first harness
Climbing harness
A climbing harness is a piece of equipment used in certain types of rock-climbing, abseiling or other activities requiring the use of ropes to provide access or safety...
prototype; this went into production two years later, the same year that he introduced titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
crampons
Crampons
Crampons are traction devices used to improve mobility on snow and ice. There are three main attachment systems for footwear: step-in, hybrid, and strap bindings. The first two require boots with welts, the last adapt to any type....
.
In 1967 the company became an Snc, and in the early 1980s it moved from Lecco to Valmadrera
Valmadrera
Valmadrera is a comune in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 45 km northeast of Milan and about 3 km west of Lecco...
. In 1997 the CAMP
CAMP (company)
rightCAMP is one of the world's leading manufacturers of equipment for climbing and associated activities such as ski mountaineering and industrial safety...
company bought the Cassin trademark.
100th birthday celebrations
Cassin's 100th birthday was on 2 January 2009. A book, entitled Riccardo Cassin: Cento volti di un grande alpinista ("Riccardo Cassin: One Hundred Faces of a Great Alpinist"), was produced to mark the occasion, containing one hundred testimonies from people connected with Cassin, including Edouard Frendo, Georges Livanos, John F. Kennedy, Reinhold MessnerReinhold Messner
Reinhold Messner is an Italian mountaineer and explorer from Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol "whose astonishing feats on Everest and on peaks throughout the world have earned him the status of the greatest climber in history." He is renowned for making the first solo ascent of Mount Everest without...
, Carlo Mauri, Walter Bonatti, Gianni Brera
Gianni Brera
Giovanni Luigi "Gianni" Brera was an Italian sports journalist and novelist.-Biography:Brera was born in San Zenone al Po, near Pavia, the son of Carlo, a tailor, and Marietta Ghisoni...
and Candido Cannavò
Candido Cannavò
Candido Cannavò was an Italian journalist, well known as the historical director of the sport newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport....
.
He died in Piano dei Resinelli, Lecco, on 6 August 2009, aged 100.
Honours
- Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al merito della Repubblica ItalianaItalian orders of meritThere are five orders of knighthood awarded in recognition of service to the Italian Republic. Below these sit a number of other decorations, associated and otherwise, that do not confer knighthoods...
(Rome, 9 February 1999) - Grand'Ufficiale dell'Ordine al merito della Repubblica ItalianaItalian orders of meritThere are five orders of knighthood awarded in recognition of service to the Italian Republic. Below these sit a number of other decorations, associated and otherwise, that do not confer knighthoods...
(5 January 1980)
Sources
- Riccardo Cassin, Alpi occidentali: Bianco, Cervino, Rosa, Grafica e Arte Bergamo, 1990, ISBN 8872011043
- Riccardo Cassin, Fifty Years of Alpinism, Diadem, 1980, ISBN 0898860601
- Alessandro Gogna, Laura Melesi and Daniele Redaelli, Riccardo Cassin: Cento volti di un grande alpinista, Bellavite Editore, 2008, ISBN 9788875110925
External links
- Biography on SummitPost
- Cassin Ridge (Mount McKinley) page on SummitPost, with description, itinerary and topo
- Interview with Cassin at climbing.com
- Photos of the Cassin Ridge (Mount McKinley)
- Riccardo Cassin - Daily Telegraph obituary
- Obituary by the Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
- Riccardo Cassin: Mountaineer whose exploits across five decades gave him legendary status, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
Obituary