Cassin Route

FA July 14-16th, 1937 – Riccardo Cassino, V. Ratti, G. Esposito

1200 m and 800 m of vertical drop. (21P + 4P on the North Ridge) Mostly IVs and Vs, with a few sections of VI/VI+ (5c)

One epic mountaineering’s tale of the Alps dated 1937.  Two Italian alpinist rival teams, Cassin, Ratti and Esposito from Ragni di Lecco on one side, and Molteni, Valsecchi on the other, met by chance at the base of the wall and finally decided to attempt the ascent together. The climb was difficult, slow, and fraught with bad weather, including thunderstorms and snow, which came too early on in the season. After 2 bivies on the wall, only three of them were able to return home. Unfortunately, Molteni and Valsecchi died of fatigue and cold (which was also the most likely cause of the edema they suffered from).

Now the route is a renowned classic long and severe climb, that is generally completed (bottom to summit) in 8/10 hours.