Riccardo Cassin was born 110 years ago in Friuli, in San Vito al Tagliamento.Today, to celebrate a man who is a real legend for mountain lovers, the Rosalba Refuge and Campsirago Residence, in collaboration with the Riccardo Cassin Foundation, are organizing a festival right on the peaks that Cassin first climbed and loved: the Southern Grigna. The event - called InGrigna!- will be held at the Rosalba refuge on September 7th and 8th and aims to enhance mountainculture, with “narrative hikes” and yet-to-be-released shows.Garmont, always close to those who live and love the mountains, will partner with the organisers to support the main show dedicated to Riccardo Cassin.
Riccardo Cassin, "Don't call me a mountaineer"
Cassin moved to Lecco in 1926 and was immediately and irresistibly attracted to the Grigne, the peaks that overlook the town sitting on the shores of the lake with the same name. These were difficult times; Cassin had to work hard to support hisfamily - he lost his father in 1913 - but the mountain had a charm he could not resist and, as soon as he could, he escaped to this kingdom of rock, first walking and then climbing.It was the first step in a career that led Cassin to carry out countless mountaineering feats, in Italy and abroad, up to the Olympus of international mountaineering.
But Cassin, perhaps unconsciously, made another transformation: he opened the doors of the “Small Dolomites”, the sharp peaks of the Grignetta which quickly became a magical place, attracting all the major mountaineers of the time - from Bonatti to Maestri, from Ratti to Vitali - and home to a historical group, the Ragni di Lecco.
Today as at the time, the Grigna continues to exert its force of attraction and is the destination of countless enthusiasts, who climb or walk among its steep walls. Cassin has in fact realized the dream of a shared mountain, experienced together by those who love and respect this delicate environment. As he used to say: "The Grigna, like so many mountains, is an emotion too beautiful not to be shared".
And this was precisely what Cassin was looking for: more than the sporting act itself, it was the sheer emotion of the mountain that attracted him to the peaks. For him, it was not necessary to be an athlete to live the mountain, but simply to love this environment passionately and to have the will to go further, higher, until you reachthe goal that was set. A message as simple as it is revolutionary, the same message that Garmont has made its own with the motto #staywild: an invitation to live one's passion, always and everywhere.
Riccardo Cassin never stopped walking until the last of his days, at one hundred years of age. He said of himself: "I started my career as a hiker and ended itas a hiker.Hikers are often more mountaineersthan many who climb ”. And every hiker begins his outing with a simple step, the first one that leads himaway from home to follow his passion and the call of the mountains, to reach the summit, near the sky.
InGrigna!, a unique festival
The InGrigna! festival was created this year, on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Cassin's birth and the reprint of his 1958 book Dove la parete strapiomba (Alpine Studio Editore publisher).The Festival takes place at the Rosalba refuge, in the heart of the Grigne, and the program includes world premiere shows, specifically created to enhance this unique location.
Among these, the main appointment:Riccardo Cassin.The stone man with and by Marco Albino Ferrari and the (S)legati company.This is an unprecedented reading-performance based on Where the wall overhangsby Riccardo Cassin, an exciting theatrical reading at sunset that will give life to Cassin’s irrepressible passion for the mountains and for adventure, accompanied by the projection of films and archive images,in the very place where the fatal attraction between Cassin and the mountains was born.Garmontis a partner of this special appointment, to celebrate a great mountaineer but above all the passion that pushes and leads each of us to overcome our own limits and go further, favoring our wilder side.
The entire festival does not foresee an audience that simply watches: the participants will in fact be directly involved in the various moments. Once again, the mountain - the perfect stage - becomes a place to share experiences and memorable moments, just like Cassin said.
The program of the InGrigna Festival! is available on the website: https://www.campsiragoresidenza.it/portfolio/in-grigna-festival/
Riccardo Cassin, "Don't call me a mountaineer"
But Cassin, perhaps unconsciously, made another transformation: he opened the doors of the “Small Dolomites”, the sharp peaks of the Grignetta which quickly became a magical place, attracting all the major mountaineers of the time - from Bonatti to Maestri, from Ratti to Vitali - and home to a historical group, the Ragni di Lecco.
Today as at the time, the Grigna continues to exert its force of attraction and is the destination of countless enthusiasts, who climb or walk among its steep walls. Cassin has in fact realized the dream of a shared mountain, experienced together by those who love and respect this delicate environment. As he used to say: "The Grigna, like so many mountains, is an emotion too beautiful not to be shared".
And this was precisely what Cassin was looking for: more than the sporting act itself, it was the sheer emotion of the mountain that attracted him to the peaks. For him, it was not necessary to be an athlete to live the mountain, but simply to love this environment passionately and to have the will to go further, higher, until you reachthe goal that was set. A message as simple as it is revolutionary, the same message that Garmont has made its own with the motto #staywild: an invitation to live one's passion, always and everywhere.
Riccardo Cassin never stopped walking until the last of his days, at one hundred years of age. He said of himself: "I started my career as a hiker and ended itas a hiker.Hikers are often more mountaineersthan many who climb ”. And every hiker begins his outing with a simple step, the first one that leads himaway from home to follow his passion and the call of the mountains, to reach the summit, near the sky.
InGrigna!, a unique festival
The InGrigna! festival was created this year, on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Cassin's birth and the reprint of his 1958 book Dove la parete strapiomba (Alpine Studio Editore publisher).The Festival takes place at the Rosalba refuge, in the heart of the Grigne, and the program includes world premiere shows, specifically created to enhance this unique location.
Among these, the main appointment:Riccardo Cassin.The stone man with and by Marco Albino Ferrari and the (S)legati company.This is an unprecedented reading-performance based on Where the wall overhangsby Riccardo Cassin, an exciting theatrical reading at sunset that will give life to Cassin’s irrepressible passion for the mountains and for adventure, accompanied by the projection of films and archive images,in the very place where the fatal attraction between Cassin and the mountains was born.Garmontis a partner of this special appointment, to celebrate a great mountaineer but above all the passion that pushes and leads each of us to overcome our own limits and go further, favoring our wilder side.
The entire festival does not foresee an audience that simply watches: the participants will in fact be directly involved in the various moments. Once again, the mountain - the perfect stage - becomes a place to share experiences and memorable moments, just like Cassin said.
The program of the InGrigna Festival! is available on the website: https://www.campsiragoresidenza.it/portfolio/in-grigna-festival/