Mountaineering and tourist hospitality courses: the Cristina Castagna Center will open in Pakistan from 10 August
Structure created by "Montagna e Solidarietà" with the contribution of the Italian Alpine Club.
MILAN – In the wake of the Italy-Pakistan international cooperation,on 10 August the Cristina Castagna Center will be inaugurated, a structure located in Ghotolti Ishkoman in the Gilgit-Baltistan district of Ghizer (Pakistan), for tourist hospitality and mountaineering coursesfor training on mountain techniques carried out by “Montagna e Solidarietà” with the contribution of the Italian Alpine Club.
THE FIRST TIME OF ITALIAN AND PAKISTANI ALPINISTS
The objective “is to generate a socio-economic impact for local populations and to promote their approach to professional activities related to mountaineering through training courses”. This is one of the initiatives that are part of the K2-70 project of the CAI dedicated to the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the first ascent in 1954: an anniversary which will see Italian mountaineers set off together for the first time for the summit and Pakistani (Federica Mingolla, Silvia Loreggian, Anna Torretta, Cristina Piolini, Samina Baig, Amina Bano, Nadeema Sahar, Samana Rahim together with doctor Lorenza Pratali).
THE FIRST WOMAN TO TOUCH THE TOP OF MAKALU
One of the legacies of the project is precisely the Cristina Castagna Center: she liked to define herself as “a dreamcatcher”, she was the first Italian woman to reach the top of Makalu, 8,473 metres . A young nurse who left for the Himalayas as soon as she could, pursuing her great passion for mountaineering which saw her climb Shisha Pangma, Gasherbrum II, Dhaulagiri, Makalu, and finally Broad Peak, where she disappeared due to a fatal fall. The Cristina Castagna Center is dedicated to her and to all the women who love the mountains, a project conceived for the economic development of the valley with services also for the local community, to start mountaineering courses for training on mountain techniques aimed at beginners, enthusiasts, experts, operators in the sector.
THE GROWTH OF MOUNTAIN TOURISM
Mountain tourism, both international and national, in Pakistani valleys and mountain ranges is experiencing considerable development: for this reason a school for mountaineering techniques is seen as strategic for training and accompanying in safety, and functional for the development of tourism, also aiming for an eco-sustainable approach. And above all – observing that in recent Pakistani mountaineering several very talented women climbers are emerging, as demonstrated by the expedition organized for the 70th anniversary – a mountaineering school represents an interesting source of encouragement for the social development of the female figure in Pakistan.
THE INAUGURATION
The inauguration will therefore take place on August 10th, with an event to which approximately50 Italians have been invited, including tourists, trekkers, mountaineers, members and representatives of national associations, climbers, enthusiasts and Pakistani mountain operators, journalists and authorities, and a crowd of people from the valley. “A high moment of solidarity between Italy and Pakistan, also useful for strengthening the international relationship of the two countries considering, and reciprocating to a certain extent, the merits, honor and responsibility for the conquest of K2 by the Italian expedition of 1954”, is defined. “I am happy that we can contribute to the conclusion of this project started by the mountaineer Tarcisio Bellò. An initiative that allows us to be physically present in a country that has given so much in terms of visibility to the Italian Alpine Club starting from the expedition in 1954 In Pakistan, the CAI had never been present in a stable manner. We do not want this experience to be an isolated case, but the beginning of a path of collaboration, so that there are increasingly close relationships between the Pakistani and Pakistani populations. Italian”, confirms the president of the CAI, Antonio Montani.