Turkish mountaineers find 54-year-old note left by Italian climbers in northeastern Türkiye

By Enes Sansar and Asiye Latife Yilmaz

TRABZON, Türkiye (AA) - Turkish mountaineers climbing the Kackar Mountains along Türkiye’s eastern Black Sea coast discovered a note left in a tin can by Italian mountaineers who visited the region in 1972.

CAMADAN Mountaineering and Winter Sports Specialized Club President Metin Colak and club members Hakan Demirci, Adem Sahin, Musa Kesimal and Ercument Gumus carried out a climbing activity in the Kackar Mountains about a month and a half ago.

During the ascent, the climbers noticed a chimney-shaped structure commonly referred to as a “summit cairn,” usually built by mountaineers to mark their presence.

Inside an upside-down tin can weighted with stones, they found a piece of paper wrapped in plastic bearing the note: “20-8-72, Spedizione CAI Pordenone Italy, Quota 3510, Enzo Laconca, Giovanni Martin.”

After researching the date, address and names written on the note, the group learned that the climbers were members of the Club Alpino Italiano.

After contacting the mountaineering club via social media, Colak and the other members learned that the note belonged to Italian climbers Alleris Pizzur, Sisto Degan, Enzo Laconca, Gianni Martin and Ezio Migotto, who visited the region in 1972 and were between the ages of 23 and 32 at the time.

Colak told Anadolu that the area they climbed is not a well-known location and said they were very surprised to learn that Italian mountaineers had been at the same spot 54 years earlier.

He said five athletes from their club climbed the isolated 3,428-meter Atalani peak in the Kackar Mountains, which he described as an isolated peak located in the middle of the range.

Colak said they were very excited after finding the note, adding: “It was as if the sense of time disappeared at that moment. It felt like they were there just before us. Yet none of the five of us who reached the summit that day were alive when this note was left there. It’s incredible.”

Noting that the eastern Black Sea region is highly suitable for mountaineering activities, Colak said: “Our Italian friends climbed here 54 years ago. In our research, we also found that a Czechoslovak team made an ascent in 1969.”

“It’s a wonderful feeling. Knowing that other mountaineers came before you and left this note for you is like a letter written to the future,” he added.

Club member Hakan Demirci said they contacted the Italian mountaineering club via social media after finding the note.

He said the club was surprised by the discovery, requested photographs, later followed up, reached one of the original climbers, published a report and has since maintained positive and ongoing communication.

The climbers said the club is preserving the tin can and note and plans to display them in a proposed mountaineering museum in Türkiye’s eastern Black Sea region.

They added that the Italian club has expressed interest in attending the opening and helping establish connections with mountaineers from that era.