The Club Alpino Italiano is the senior Italian

alpine club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of which ...

which stages

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done fo ...

competitions, operates

alpine hut A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization d ...

s, marks and maintains paths, and is active in protecting the Alpine

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

. It was founded in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

in 1863 by the then finance minister, and mountaineer,

Quintino Sella Quintino Sella (; 7 July 1827 – 14 March 1884) was an Italian politician, economist and mountaineer. Biography Sella was born at Sella di Mosso, in the Province of Biella. After studying engineering at Turin, he was sent in 1843 to study mi ...

; together with the

Swiss Alpine Club The Swiss Alpine Club (german: Schweizer Alpen-Club, french: Club Alpin Suisse, it, Club Alpino Svizzero, rm, Club Alpin Svizzer) is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 111 s ...

, founded in the same year, it is the second oldest Alpine Club in the world, only preceded by the British Alpine Club. After

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the annexation of Trento and

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

to Italy, it absorbed the "Società degli Alpinisti Tridentini" and the "Società Alpina delle Giulie". As of December 2018, it had 322,022 members, 507 sections and 309 sub-sections; the greatest numbers of members came from

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

(88,057), Veneto (54,948), and Piedmont (51,396). Its most famous achievement is the 1954 Italian Karakoram expedition to K2 that made the first successful ascent of K2. The CAI operates 433 mountain huts, 224 Bivouac shelter, bivouacs and 106 smaller huts and shelters throughout the Italian Alps, for an overall capacity of over 23,500 beds.

Publishing activity

Among many other publications the Club Alpino Italiano, along with Touring Club Italiano, published between 1908 and 2013 the ''Guida dei Monti d'Italia'' (in English ''Guidebook to the Italian mountains''), a series of guidebooks covering all the mountain ranges of Italy.

Influence on Italian Army uniforms

Italian military troops adopted a grey-green uniform during World War I. Luigi Brioschi, president of the Milanese section of the C.A.I. (Italian Alpine Club) in 1905 introduced a combat uniform more suitable for a modern war, replacing the showy uniforms of the Royal Sardinian Army. Brioschi demonstrated that the grey uniforms were less visible by opponent snipers, therefore, the project was financed.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Club Alpino Italiano,