RICCARDO CASSIN A GREAT OF WORLD MOUNTAINISM
He was born on January 2, 1909 and left us in 2009, leaving testimonies and examples of sport and life for the entire world of mountaineering. His exploits are unforgettable and he practiced mountaineering until his old age.
HIS LIFE
After initial experience as a boxer, he trained as a mountaineer around 1930 in the Grigne needles. Without a doubt, he was one of the most important figures in mountaineering of the sixth grade era, before World War II.
Thanks to his tenacity and determination, he managed to overcome the mountaineering problems of the time, both in the Dolomites and in the Western Alps. 1934 and 1935 are the years of great mountaineering in the Cassin Dolomites. In 1934 he made the first ascent of the Piccolissima delle Cime di Lavaredo. In 1935, after having repeated the great route of Emilio Comici on the northwest face of the Civetta, he climbed the fantastic southeast corner of the Trieste tower and, with Vittorio Ratti, opened an extremely daring route on the north face of the Cima Ovest say Lavaredo. , a highly coveted undertaking after Angelo and Giuseppe Dimai from Cortina and Emilio Comici from Trieste had climbed the north of the Grande in 1933.
En 1937, Cassin centró su atención en el granito de los Alpes centrales. En tres días, asolado por el mal tiempo, realizó la primera ascensión de la enorme cara noreste del Pizzo Badile junto a Ratti y Esposito y el consorcio de Como’s Molteni y Valsecchi, que morirán de agotamiento a lo largo del descenso. Incluso esta ruta hoy en día es muy famosa y se recorre con frecuencia.
For this feat, CONI awarded Cassin the gold medal for Athletic Valor in 1938.
On the Walker Spur
Probably his most important feat, and a milestone in mountaineering, took place between August 4 and 6, 1938 in the Mont Blanc massif. With Tizzoni and Esposito, he made the first ascent of the Walker branch of the north face of the Grandes Jorasses.
CLIMBING IN THE HIMALAYAS AND ALASKA
- 1953, Karakorum: exploratory and reconnaissance expedition in preparation for the 1954 expedition to K2.
- 1958, Karakorum: leader of the Italian expedition to Gasherbrum IV, which ended with the first ascent to the summit by Walter Bonatti and Carlo Mauri. Cassin himself also carried out a reconnaissance of Gasherbrum III up to 7350 m.
- 1961, Alaska Range: leader of the Italian expedition to Mount Denali, which ended with the first ascent of the south face by all members of the expedition (including Cassin himself, then fifty-two years old).
- 1975, realizo el primer intento a la temible cara sur del monte Lhotse – Himalaya: líder de la expedición italiana, el intento no tuvo exito. Los miembros de la expedición logran alcanzar una altitud de 7100 m, pero tienen que darse por vencidos debido al mal tiempo y las avalanchas peligrosas.
CLIMBING TO THE SNOWY JIRISHANCA 1969 – HUAYHUASH CORDILLERA – PERU
CLIMBING JIRISHANCA PEAK WAS NOT IN THEIR INITIAL PLAN.
La expedición “Città di lecco” comenzó en el verano de hace 50 años con el objetivo inicial de escalar la cara este de nevado Yerupayà, 6634 metros, el pico más alto de la Cordillera Huayhuash; en ningún momento del plan estaba previsto escalar el nevado Jirishanca (6094 m.).
Al aterrizar en el aeropuerto de la ciudad de Lima, capital del Perú; le informan que una expedición de escaladores Austríacos ya estaban en la base de la pared este. Para Riccardo fue un mal momento de incomodidad, despues de unos minutos se tranquiliza y búsca inmediatamente otro objetivo de nivel técnico y prestigioso. Toma como objetivo escalar el pico Jirishanca por el lado occidental; siendo está una de las montañas más hermosas de la Cordillera Huayhuash, renombrado como ” El Matterhorn de los andes”.
It has a pyramidal shape that shows its greatness and majesty seen from all angles or faces. The history of this mountain is linked to the name of the late friend and great mountaineer Toni Egger who, after days of struggle, reached the summit in 1957 with the victorious climb of the east wall. To this day the west wall remains without a route, nor are there any attempts to make it inaccessible and exposed.
ACCIDENTE AEREO EN EL NEVADO JIRISHANCA 16 – 11 – 1954
One day, November 16, 1954, an air accident occurred with the TAM C-47 plane No. 403 (Transportes Aéreos Militares), with the loss of 29 human lives while it was on a scheduled flight between the city of Pucallpa and Lima. The accident precisely occurred in the glacial tongue of this snow-capped mountain. Currently you can still see some parts of the plane, another part was taken to the police in the city of Yungay.
