Alpine rescue, a seventy-year commitment

A history of organisation and altruism. Men and women with the spirit of volunteers and the training of professionals.

The Trentino Alpine Rescue Service carries out an average of 1.200 operations per yearSeventy one years. That’s how long the National Alpine and Caving Rescue Corps (CNSAS) have been serving the province of Trentino. In 2022, they marked the anniversary with a series of initiatives, including a photography exhibition first presented at the 70th Trento Film Festival, before touring towns that have rescue stations. The exhibition explores the history of the corps and its founding values. In July of last year, it was shown in Pinzolo where it served a dual purpose: educating visitors on the adventures of Trentino Alpine rescue through the seven key themes of passion, training, organisation, innovation, the air, medical aid and prevention, as well as revealing the connection that Val Rendena and Pinzolo in particular have with rescue operations, a connection that is as strong today as it has been in the past. Alongside the official exhibition was an incredible collection of historical documents and original equipment from the period, from backpacks to ropes, snow and avalanche probes to stretchers and communication radios. All the items have been provided by families of rescuers, and were of such quality and quantity that they have been turned into a permanent exhibit. Commitment to others, passion and generosity are the qualities that unite the rescuers of the past - pioneers in devising rescue equipment and techniques - with those of the present, who benefit from innovation and continuous, rigorous and professional training.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN It started in the 1950s. While in various parts of Italy the CAI (Italian Alpine Club) helped launch voluntary and ad-hoc rescue teams, in Trentino the SAT (Tridentini Mountaineering Company) sponsored the first organised mountain rescue society in Italy. This was formally established in 1952 with the birth of the SAT Alpine Rescue service, directed by doctor Scipio Stenico in partnership with Carlo Colò and Mario Smadelli, with financial support from the Trentino Alto Adige Region and the Autonomous Province of Trento. The newly launched project was wide-ranging, well-structured, planned down to the smallest detail, and was a response to an incident that impacted Trentino and marked a “before” and “after” in the history of mountain rescue. In the summer of 1952, a dramatic incident took place at the Bocca dei Camosci in the Brenta Dolomites. Four young hikers fell into a crevice and only one girl survived, who was rescued three days later. As a consequence, the project underwent significant operational developments that very summer. Seminal first-aid cabinets were installed in the SAT lodges, before work began on the equipment, which was designed from scratch through experimentation, tests and adjustments. Special studies took place ranging from how to recover casualties from mountainsides to the invention of a tool in 1962 which could be used in inaccessible areas, for lowering people down mountainsides and for transporting casualties by cable car. The SAT Rescue service also designed and manufactured 5-metre ladders with lightweight metal steps, safety belts with straps for climbing, a rucksack for refreshments, a special tool for improvising a makeshift stretcher with skis, and more. Alpine lodges, cable car stations and mountain cottages were equipped with call stations.

The station in Pinzolo was the first to operate in Italy.

THE FIRST STATION AND THE PIONEERS Also of historic importance was the establishment of Alpine rescue stations in Canazei, Pozza-Vigo di Fassa, San Martino di Castrozza, Primiero, Levico, Caldonazzo, Riva del Garda and Molveno in 1952. The first station to operate in Trentino was in Pinzolo, led for many years by Angiolino Binelli, who went on to establish the Silver Plaque of the Alpine Solidarity Award in 1972. In Pinzolo, the first members of the Alpine Rescue service were the old SAT guides, with particular importance ascribed to the Collini, Maffei, Maturi and Ferrari, who invented new knots and recovery techniques. Alpine guide Cornelio Collini “Pipòt” was the first member of the newly formed Alpine Rescue Corps, while internationally renowned mountaineer Clemente Maffei “Gueret” donated his equipment. Angiolino Binelli, on the other hand, pioneered a historic invention by connecting the lodges to the Pinzolo station via radio link. In 1954, the Corps had 25 stations and 422 volunteers. By 1962, it had 34 valley floor stations and 843 volunteers.

A MODEL FOR RESCUE Scipio Stenico and his collaborators were entrusted with extending the organisational and operational model of the Trentino Alpine Rescue to other Italian regions, making use of equipment that had already been made and successfully tested during numerous rescues and exercises. In 1955, a statute-regulation applying to the whole of Italy was approved by the CAI Council. At the end of 1959, the headquarters moved from Trento to Parma. 67 stations were equipped with the main equipment and a suitable number of volunteers were insured against accidents and given full training. In 1963, Parliament approved Law 91/63 concerning the reorganisation of the CAI and, as a result, in 1967 the CSA became the CNSA, the National Alpine Rescue Corps.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS In 1990, the Caving Rescue service was transformed, and what was a section of the Alpine Rescue service became an integral part of the organisation. And so, the National Alpine and Caving Rescue Corps (CNSAS) was born. In 1995, a new law (225/21992) identified the CNSAS as a National Civil Protection Service. The CNSAS has responsibilities on a variety of fronts, with a presence across the country that includes 21 services which converge into 31 Alpine delegations and 16 caving delegations, housing the core of the organisation’s operations. There are 242 Alpine stations and 27 caving stations in operation, with a total of more than 7200 technicians.

TODAY IN TRENTINO The Province of Trento’s Alpine Rescue service is an operational body that falls under the Autonomous Province of Trento’s Civil Defence Unit. The organisation deals with the operations side of the service and, on average, carries out more than 1.200 rescues per year on a variety of terrains: rocks, snow, ice, trails, gorges, caves, forests, rough terrain and ropeways. It also promotes rigorous communication and education in relation to the public, with the aim of preventing accidents in the mountains. The Trentino Alpine Rescue service is made up of around 700 highly trained members with various qualifications and specialisations, ready to serve their area 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Operations are facilitated by 33 territorial posts and 1 caving station, divided into 7 administrative and 5 operational areas. In western Trentino, the Adamello-Brenta operational area is active with the stations of Pinzolo, Madonna di Campiglio, Val Rendena-Busa di Tione, Valle del Chiese, Giudicarie Esteriori, San Lorenzo in Banale and Molveno.