At the Lagazuoi EXPO Dolomiti:
the legacy of Lino Lacedelli in an exhibition
curated by the ‘Scoiattoli di Cortina d’Ampezzo Group'
The exhibition "Letters from K2", a story told through pictures and memories, is open until 12th September.
Seventy years later, the first ascent of K2 by the Ampezzo-born Lino Lacedelli, a member of the prestigious mountaineering association "Scoiattoli di Cortina", is commemorated through a series of letters.
A new, more intimate and personal story, still very relevant today.
Cortina d'Ampezzo, 6th August 2024_ The legacy of Lino Lacedelli is to be found here, in his mountains: the exhibition "Letters from K2" was inaugurated yesterday at the Lagazuoi EXPO Dolomiti, the highest exhibition space in the Dolomites, located at the Lagazuoi cable car top station between Cortina d'Ampezzo and the Badia Valley. The captivating story of an Ampezzo native and a member of the climbing club 'Scoiattoli di Cortina' (Squirrels of Cortina, one of Italy’s most famous community of mountaineers and climbers), who has played a significant role in shaping unforgettable moments in mountaineering history, will be on display until 12th September.
Last night's opening, in the presence of the Scoiattoli Group - to which Lacedelli belonged - the Lacedelli family, the town council of Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Cai, the Alpine Military School (SMALP) and many of Lino's friends and admirers, revealed new aspects of the personality of this protagonist of his time.
"We are honoured to have the opportunity to celebrate such a multidimensional figure, who is tied to his roots, to Cortina d'Ampezzo, but at the same time reaches out to the world, said Monica De Mattia, Cortina d'Ampezzo's Councillor for Culture. Lino Lacedelli is the symbol of a territory that maintains a strong identity but is capable of transforming it in a thousand ways. He transcends borders and becomes an ambassador for a way of experiencing the mountains. Today, together with his family and the Scoiattoli, we are proud to commemorate him. His story belongs to all those who love Cortina."
"Here, on the face of Cima Scotoni, is the climbing route ‘Via degli Scoiattoli’, opened by Lino in 1952 with Luigi 'Bibi' Ghedina and Guido Lorenzi: the most difficult climb in the Dolomites," sayd Marcello Menardi, in his double role as president of the Lagazuoi Spa and member of the ‘Scoiattoli’ group. "Lino was one of our first members. He belonged to a generation of mountaineers, pioneers, and mountain entrepreneurs, as well as courageous and enlightened people who knew how to open up new ways for the development of our valley.”
Alessandro Menardi, President of the Scoiattoli, stressed that "Lino Lacedelli has done so much for Cortina d'Ampezzo and mountaineering that it is only right that the Scoiattoli should pass on his story to future generations telling not only the story of the mountaineer but also that of the man. Through this narrative, we will discover how Cortina and Italy have changed from the post-war period to the present. We will redraw the threads of our memories and take up the baton of an incredible human story.”
The guests were introduced to the exhibition by Marco, Emanuela, Cristina, and Alberta Lacedelli, together with Roberto Casanova and Vinicio Stefanello, who were the curators of the exhibition.
The exhibition is a journey into the past. For the first time, some of the many letters exchanged between Lino Lacedelli and his family, friends and acquaintances have been made available to the public.
A sequence of letters sent to and from Cortina to K2, chronicling a man's quest to reach the summit and showcasing a vanished Italy. The exhibition presents Lino Lacedelli's extraordinary mountaineering journey, but above all his human and intimate story.
It is a family album that preserves everything: pictures, memories, Lacedelli's own notes on his journey as a mountaineer and his achievement in 1954, when he reached the summit of K2 with Achille Compagnoni, with the decisive help of Walter Bonatti and Hunza Amir Mehdi, who carried the oxygen tanks to the final camp.
It was a feat, as Lino was keen to emphasise, achieved by a team composed of Ardito Desio (expedition leader), Erich Abram, Ugo Angelino, Cirillo Floreanini, Pino Gallotti, Mario Puchoz, Ubado Rey, Gino Soldà, Sergio Viotto, Guido Pagani (doctor), Mario Fantin (photographer and cameraman).
Alongside the memories of '54, there are also those of other exploits, such as that of 2004, fifty years after the first ascent, when Lino Lacedelli, almost 80 years old, accompanied by his daughter Alberta, undertook the long and arduous trek to the base camp of K2 to pass the baton to his young Scoiattoli companions, who shortly afterwards reached the summit of the second highest mountain in the world.
Lino Lacedelli, the only member of the '54 expedition to return to the foot of the Karakoram Giant, was recognised and celebrated by the people of the villages he passed through and by the porters.
After Cortina d'Ampezzo, the exhibition will move on to the Aosta Valley: it will be open from 22nd September in the setting of Castello Cantore (Jocteau Castle), the headquarters of the Alpine military school and training centre “Scuola Militare Alpina di Aosta”. This appointment will be one of the highlights of the military school's 90th anniversary.
Some historical archive images from the exhibition are available for editorial use on request.
Lagazuoi EXPO Dolomiti is one of the highest exhibition centres in the world, at 2,732 metres above sea level. It is located in the heart of the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, halfway between Cortina d'Ampezzo and Alta Badia. The LED is an innovative space and exhibition gallery of international renown, which hosts a calendar full of events, exhibitions and projects dedicated to photography, past and contemporary art, and the history and prehistory of the territory.
