Gran Sasso d'Italia, Via Ferrata Brizio changes name and becomes Ferrata dei Ginepri

The Teramo section of the Italian Mountaineering Club (CAI) has officially announced the change of name of its Via Ferrata "Brizio" to "Ferrata dei Ginepri". The decision, taken unanimously during the last Board of Directors meeting, derives from the historical events linked to the application of the racial laws during Italy's fascist period.

At the time Guido Brizio, the former president of the Rome Section of the Italian Mountaineering Club, following the directives of the CAI which in the meantime had been renamed the Italian Alpine Center, expelled all non-Aryan members, including Enrico Iannetta and his wife Agnese Ajò. The via ferrata, created to facilitate access those wishing to climb Corno Piccolo from the L'Aquila side to the Teramo side of Gran Sasso, was originally dedicated to Brizio in the 1950s.

"Few are aware of the fact that the ferrata was subsequently acquired by the CAI Section of Teramo around the mid-1990s", explained Luigi Pomponi, president of the aforementioned Section, "The via ferrata is located on the western slopes of Corno Grande and leads from Sella del Brecciaio to Sella dei Due Corni, passing across Vallone dei Ginepri".

Thanks to funding from the Abruzzo Region and on the recommendation of CAI Abruzzo, the Gran Sasso - Laga Park Authority has recently carried out maintenance and safety works on the via ferrata in the massif.

The new name, "Ferrata dei Ginepri", will be celebrated with a simple ceremony during which the plaques will be placed at the two ends of the via ferrata.