50 Years of Alpinism by Riccardo Cassin (1981)

The autobiography of Italian alpinist Riccardo Cassin, who led a team of five to make the first ascent of the South Buttress of Denali in 1961, at the age of 52. The route would later become eponymous: the Cassin Ridge.

Cassin learned to climb in the town of Lecco, Italy, in the late 1920s. On the shores of Lake Como with tall mountain spires as a backdrop, Lecco was the perfect place to learn to climb.  Soon, his talent growing, Cassin took to the Dolomites, and then the snowy high Alps. There he established a number of cutting-edge climbs including the Walker Spur on the Grandes Jorasses and the North East Face of the Piz Badille. From there he took his talents abroad, making expeditions to Alaska, the Andes, the Himalaya, and the Caucasus.

The saying goes "The are old climbers and there are bold climbers, but there are no old, bold climbers." Riccardo Cassin may be one of the few exceptions.

Hardcover book w/ dustjacket in perfect shape. 207 pages. In translation from the original Italian.