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2000
Riccardo
Cassin (Italy)
Riccardo
Cassin was born in northern Italy in 1909. After being a blacksmith and a boxer, he
discovered mountaineering. His legendary career has included about 2500 climbs - in Italy,
Switzerland, France, Austria, Spain, Yugoslavia, Scotland, the  Caucasus, Alaska, Peru,
Pakistan, Nepal, Japan and Patagonia. Over one hundred of these were first ascents,
accomplished over a span of decades, from the southwest face of Lavaredo Piccolissima in
1934 to the south face of Mount McKinley in 1961 and the west face of Jirishanca in 1965.
At age 78, he repeated the northeast face of Badile Peak on the 50th anniversary of his
first ascent. He has published 10 books on climbing and has been honoured by numerous
mountain organizations and governments. Reinhold Messner said of him: "He's a
milestone in the history of climbing".
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