Danilo Galante

Danilo Galante, born December 28, 1953, and died May 4, 1975, was an Italian mountaineer and climber from the Piedmont valleys, closely associated with the "Nuovo Mattino" generation. "Nuovo Mattino," the "new dawn" of mountaineering, revolutionized climbing in the 1970s around Turin, in the Susa Valley, and the surrounding valleys. It was a movement of young climbers who favored free climbing on rock, the search for new lines, and a more playful and creative relationship with the mountain, seeking out challenges without necessarily aiming for the summit. This relationship, above all, fostered a deeper connection with the mountain, breaking with the more conquering, traditional style of mountaineering. In the accounts of his contemporaries, Galante emerges as one of the most inspired and promising figures of this revolution, a prominent member of the movement despite his very short life. On May 3, 1975, Danilo Galante, roped to Gian Carlo Grassi, set off up the face of the Grand Manti, in the Chartreuse massif above Grenoble, on the famous Yannick Seigneur route. Light and passionate, they climbed in jeans and t-shirts, their hair held back by headbands. Danilo was wearing his first Pierre Allain climbing shoes; intoxicated by the vertigo, he felt as if he were flying. But suddenly, on that spring day, a cold and violent storm broke. The ascent became difficult, and the descent was worse than the climb. Frozen and soaked, the two friends climbed the last eighty meters of t…