Climbing Magazine Interviews Riccardo Cassin–99 Year Old Climbing Legend

The way I know Riccardo Cassin is through his name being used on The Cassin Ridge on Denali/Mt. McKinley. Many of us are familiar with the ridge, but not why it got that name or who it was named for. In general, areas are named on mountains for the first person to actually climb the feature. You have the “Hillary Step” on Mt. Everest, for example, named after Sir Edmund Hillary.

The Cassin Ridge was named after Riccardo Cassin after he, and a group of climbers known as the “Ragni de Lecco” were first able to summit Denali using an often thought impossible route, now known as The Cassin Ridge in 1961. The group had been climbing together since the 1930’s and managed to climb quite a few big routes and first ascents using equipment that ranged from a single rope, to handmade pitons.

Climbing.com was recently able to interview Riccardo Cassin. He is now 99 years old, in a wheelchair, but a legend in the world of climbing. At 85 years old, Cassin climbed the Luna Nascente, a climb rated at 5.10b in Val di Mello, Italy. He also mentions that just four years ago he was still doing 30 minutes of push-ups and sit-ups every morning. That would be at 95 years old. Pretty amazing.

The Interview itself talks quite a bit about the early days of climbing. Riccardo Cassin speaks of the lessons he learned from climbing, and also why he would not have been able to do many of the things in his extraordinary life, without the support and push from three women–one being his mother.

This interview is a great read. If you are interested in the history of Mountain Climbing and the early days of pursuing the sport, there aren’t to many of the original legends left. Riccardo Cassin is definitely one of the original legends, and at 99 years old–he still looks like he could kick my butt.