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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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100 years is as long a life as anybody would want. Perhaps he wanted to get on the bus in good company.
Salute to Ricado Cassin! A legend for sure.
Karl
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NMClimber
climber
New Mexico
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Bump for a legend.
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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wow, that 1961 album is amazing. some phenomenal shots there.
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stevep
Boulder climber
Salt Lake, UT
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RIP to one of the all-time legends.
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E
Social climber
Tujunga CA.
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straight up badass
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Gene
climber
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 8, 2009 - 12:07am PT
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E nails it in three words.
gm
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wack-N-dangle
Gym climber
the ground up
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In order to celebrate his accomplishments and pay respect, I thought this should have a few more posts, Unfortunately, I don't know much about him, and I lack the experience to put the history in context. Should there be a list of required reading for climbers? It seems like the ethic of ground up ascents, might be based in the spirit of alpinism, and the challenge of reaching a peak in good style.
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Ottawa Doug
Social climber
Ottawa, Canada
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Piz Badile, Walker Spur, Cassin Ridge plus countless others. He lived through a ton of risk and still lived to be 100. There was a pic I saw of him maybe 15 years ago and he was walking down a village path with Patrick Edlinger (icon French rock climber of the 70's & 80's - It was great to see these two strolling together when Cassin must have been 85 ish. Thanks for posting this up Gene.
Cheers,
Doug
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Fletcher
Trad climber
a buttery white sand beach... I wish!
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A beautiful life! But aren't they all?
My hat is off to Signore Cassin... buono viaggio!
Eric
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captain chaos
climber
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Well done Ricardo, you lived a full life, and inspired many along the way... have a safe passage to the other side-
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Jim Herrington
Mountain climber
New York, NY
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Peter Haan,
I did indeed spend a day with Cassin just two weeks ago, up in the Grigna hills above Lake Como. I can't imagine a more beautiful spot to spend ones final days, and he was surrounded by kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. Nothing to complain about here, just a very long and very well lived life. Congrats Riccardo!
I'm waiting for my film of him to come back from a lab in Spain. You'll all see the results when they're available.
Best,
Jim
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cix203
Mountain climber
Hoboken NJ
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Ciao Riccardo.
An incredible man and a fantastic climber.
Your creations will last forever and will always show the right
path towards adventure.
Fly high
LB
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Bad Climber
climber
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Wow, hard to believe, but not unexpected. I actually got to shake the hand of the great man when I was just learning to climb, about 15 yrs. old at the time! I didn't speak a word of Italian, but his US friend, Tony Sotilla (sp?) who used to own a mountaineering store in Kentfield, CA, introduced me. Cassin was visiting and showed his film of climbing the south face of Denali. I was honored and humbled to be in his presence.
Well done, old man. Well done.
BaD
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DrDeeg
Mountain climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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Aug 22, 2009 - 03:06pm PT
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And this morning the Los Angeles Times had his obituary:
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-riccardo-cassin22-2009aug22,0,2473258.story
Included is a quote from Fosco Maraini:
"There is something indestructible about this man; Paleolithic and Neanderthalish. Climbing with him you sense an inner force utterly alien to our complicated, mechanized, intellectualized world . . . a supreme and subtle contact with rocks and sky, with ice and wind. Any Zen master would claim him as one of his own."
The 1962 American Alpine Journal was the first issue that I bought (and I have the collection since then). On the Cassin Ridge in terrible weather -- 6 climbing days out of 30 on the mountain -- not only was the climb epic, but so was the descent (http://www.americanalpineclub.org/documents/pdf/aaj/1962/27_cassin_mckinley_aaj1962.pdf);:
On the summit: "A short, silent embrace by six frigid men, tried by fatigue, ends the short moment on the summit. We must descend. The satisfaction of victory will come later."
(this paragraph is in the middle of the article!)
On the descent: "Towards the bottom of the couloir, a heavy slide sweeps over me, snatches me downwards and crushes me for an eternity against the ice slope. 'I am finished,' I think automatically, but I manage to cling to the [fixed] rope. When it is over, I notice that I have lost the other crampon. . . . No damage done, but it will be difficult without crampons."
Riccardo Cassin was 52 at the time. Indeed there are old, bold climbers.
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poop_tube
Big Wall climber
33° 45' N 117° 52' W
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Aug 31, 2009 - 12:22pm PT
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Heros are remembered but legends never die
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