Francesco Lacedelli

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Francesco Lacedelli

Francesco Lacedelli (born January 29, 1796 in Cortina d'Ampezzo , County of Tyrol ; † August 30, 1886 , same place , Austria-Hungary ), also known as Chéco da Melères ( Chéco for short ), was an Italian mountaineer and marksman in service Austria's and watchmakers . At the side of Paul Grohmann he took part in three important first ascents in the Dolomites . Lacedelli is now considered the first mountain guide of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Life

Francesco Lacedelli was born in 1796 and grew up in a farmhouse in the village of Melères above Cortina d'Ampezzo. At the age of 13 he fought against the French in the Fifth Coalition War , and again in 1814 as part of the Sixth Coalition War . As a talented chamois hunter, he joined the Ampezzaner local group of the Imperial and Royal Standschützen in 1848 . In 1859 he finished his military service and devoted himself to a family tradition, clock making. The tower and wall clocks were mainly sold in the Pustertal and Cadore .

Lacedelli led Paul Grohmann to both the Tofana di Rozes (1864) and the Tofana di Mezzo (1863).

Chéco , as he was also known, only became famous at an advanced age as Cortina's first mountain guide . The Viennese Paul Grohmann , who had set himself the goal of a systematic mapping of the Dolomites, engaged Lacedelli, who is valued for his excellent sense of direction, as a guide for his first major undertaking. Together, on August 29, 1863, they were the first to reach the summit of the Tofana di Mezzo, one of the Dolomite giants in the vicinity of Cortina. When Chéco asked which one the Tofane summit Grohmann wanted to climb, the latter is said to have replied: “It doesn't matter which one, the main thing is that it is the highest.” A year later, they climbed the imposing Tofana di Rozes, followed by two others Locals, Santo Siorpaes and Angelo Dimai, were accompanied. Only two and a half weeks later, after two unsuccessful attempts, they were again with Dimai on the summit of Punta Sorapiss . Thanks to Lacedelli, the double rope was used for the first time in the eastern Dolomites during the difficult descent . This outstanding achievement marks his last alpine success.

The farmer's son died in his hometown of Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1886 at the age of 90. His nephew Alessandro Lacedelli (1836–1918) was also a mountain guide.

reception

In contrast to Paul Grohmann , who went down in alpine history as the pioneer of the Dolomites, only a few details are known about Lacedelli's life. You won't find any streets or squares named after him in his hometown. Grohmann described his first mountain guide in his walks in the Dolomites published in 1877 with the following words:

“He was not the best guide I could get, simply because it would have been difficult to find someone else at the time, but because of his really excellent qualities, strength and perseverance, agility, a courage that did not shrink from any obstacle, temperance , the gift of finding your way everywhere and finally - ambition! The man did not leave because of the meager profit - he counted and still counts among the wealthy peasants of Ampezzo - he left for the most part out of ambition. The pithy man had only one fault - his age. When I met him, he was already well over 60 years. This circumstance, however, only expressed its influence in relation to the speed, an evil which I, and probably rightly, did not overestimate. "

- Paul Grohmann (1877)

Alpinism

First ascents

Further ascents

  • Monte Pelmo (September 6, 1863, second ascent, with his nephew Alessandro)
  • Antelao (September 18, 1863, second ascent, with Paul Grohmann, Alessandro Lacedelli & Matteo Ossi)

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f 220 anni fa nasceva Chéco da Melères, la prima guida alpina d'Ampezzo. Ernesto Majoni, January 29, 2016, accessed November 29, 2016 (Italian).
  2. ^ Giuseppe Casagrande: La storia delle Guide Alpine italiane. Guide Alpine Italiane, accessed November 29, 2016 (Italian).
  3. ^ Paul Grohmann : Hikes in the Dolomites. Publishing house by Carl Gerold's Sohn , Vienna 1877, climbing the Tofana di mezzo, p. 95 f. On-line
  4. ↑ Francesco Lacedelli - detto “Checco da Meleres”. Angelo Elli, accessed November 29, 2016 (Italian).
personal data
SURNAME Lacedelli, Francesco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Chéco da Melères (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian climber
DATE OF BIRTH January 29, 1796
PLACE OF BIRTH Cortina d'Ampezzo
DATE OF DEATH August 30, 1886
Place of death Cortina d'Ampezzo