
From left: Riccardo Cassin and Carlo Mauri, two of the most famous representatives of Lecco mountaineering tradition (Photo archive Cassin Foundation)

«I was born and raised going uphill [...] I stepped out onto the terraced hillside where at one point crops and vines were cultivated: a south facing slope, (meaning that both the plants and the people mature well), a slope which goes from the lake up to the rocks”.
This is how Carlo Mauri, one of the most famous Lecco mountaineers, described in so few words the soul of Lecco and its people in the opening words of his autobiography “Quando il rischio è vita” (“When the risk is your life.”).

One of the historical iron working industries of Lecco, the rolling mill of Arlenico, marine chains manufacturing department (Photo taken from S. A. Steelworks and Ironworks of Caleotto, Lecco 1936)

Laorca, one of the districts above Lecco, where the rocks are rising above the houses rooftops (Photo Tiziana Rota)

Cerro Torre, Patagonia, one of the greatest achievements of Lecco Mountaineering (Photo Ragni della Grignetta archive - Ragnilecco.com)