A great synergy to bring new life to the Campo dei Fiori rock gym

This came on the occasion “International Mountain Day”On the evening of Monday, December 11, the event was baptized “Guardians of the Rock”organized to show the promotive interventions that have been implemented to restore the Campo dei Fiori climbing gym to its former glory, thanks to a program agreement promoted and financed by Lombardy Region and CAI Lombardy With a contribution Cariblo Foundation. The intervention was previously supervised and implemented Campo de’ Fiori Park Supported by Chamber of Commerce and Municipality of Varesesupported by the technical know-how of the Lombardy Alpine Guides College and the CAI Department of Varese.

The stage for the initiative was Sala Campiotti of the Varese Chamber of Commerce, where mediator Luca Calvi introduced the evening and presented Film directed by Marco Tessaro, Who gave his name and opened the evening. The interventions that made it possible to renovate the Campo dei Fiori rock gym are the result of fruitful comparison and preparatory work to develop an operational plan to meet the need for important and demanding works both technically and artistically. .

“It’s a really special evening – Cai Varese president Antonella Ossola explains -, because it is also International Mountain Day. We have decided to share this dual project of the restoration of the Campo dei Fuori gymnasium and the reclamation of the surrounding area with the citizens. This area is very important for us residents of Varese, we have loved it for many generations, it is a meeting point of many cultures, a lot of knowledge but also dreams and expectations. It was a meeting place for great mountaineers, but it was also a place for aspirants. Mountaineering is very important to CAI and, above all, it is a great experience for all young people because it represents a metaphor for life: knowing and appreciating the difficult path with a vision for the future. We, as Kai Varese, have been developing this idea for many years, but thanks to this synergy between bodies and institutions we have been able to make it happen.”
Photography by Giuseppe Marangone

“The interventions were in two areas – going into details Cai Varese Vice President Eligio Trombetta – Regarding field work. The first concerns the rehabilitation of access roads and paths connecting the gym areas. This intervention was the one that involved the greatest financial burden because it was widespread and required large interventions. The other was on climbing routes where all the anchorages and rest points for climbing routes were created from scratch. They are manufactured by certified mountain guides and are therefore guaranteed for life. The third axis was communication that allowed the creation of a new guide for climbing gyms, which was created in both paper and digital versions, and can be downloaded on the CAI Varese website and in both languages ​​(Here is the electronic link, unknown)».

«An important project – confirms Mayor of Varese Davide Galimberti -, highly desired by the region, the park and the city of Varese to enhance the city’s role in the sports panorama. The city is increasingly asserting itself as a city where people live well and comfortably and practice sports in various disciplines, starting with canoeing and now in a very serious way also mountaineering.

«Once again, Varese has become the protagonist of the sport – This was stated by Lombardy Region Agent Lara Magoni -. I would like to remind you that this is the only capital that has a Sports Committee within the Chamber of Commerce, which means investing in the well-being of citizens, knowing that tourism is also increasing significantly. Therefore, investing in Campo dei Fiori is also exceptional because climbing has become an Olympic sport since Tokyo 2020. We have 60 companies in Lombardy with 12,400 members, and it is a growing sport and very loved by women as well.

“We participated in this project – President’s words Mauro Vitello Chamber of Commerce -. We like to be on the side of those who believe in a project, especially when it comes to the attractiveness of our lands. Finally we got back to talking about climbing, it was essential especially at the point where we started opening up the rocky roads again. We believe in that, and we have seen that we will continue to promote this type of activity.”

also President of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana He spoke during the evening: “In recent years, this rock climbing gym has been used a little but was not as usable as it should be, which is now possible thanks to these interventions. It is an attraction point for all lovers of mountains and climbing, and those who want to spend a good time in a healthy and positive way. As a Lombardy region, we wanted to fund this intervention because we are always close to the mountains, so much so that we created a department because we believe it is part of our way of being. In the last Legislature, we made various funds available to the interior because we believe it is necessary to combat depopulation and abandonment. The mountain is also a source of tourism and thus wealth.

After introducing the institutions, the President of CAI Lombardia took to the stage at Sala Campiotti Emilio Aldinghi, Head of Campo dei Fiori Park Giuseppe BarraPresident Kai Varese Antonella Ossola Kay Member and Cariblo Foundation Member Andrea Masetti. Then, for more technical interventions, the engineer and mountaineer Matteo Malnati articulated the action works on the wall, the geologist Alessandro Uggeri to arrange the paths with natural engineering techniques at the foot of the rock gym, Davide Broggi, Alpine guide Varese and finally Mario Bramatti, CAI academic and connoisseur For historical memory and passion for the Vareseena Mountains..