Talk:Vibram

The true story
I hope someone can put this story in good English and add it to the article.

A Bramani, negli anni trenta attivo nel campo dell'alpinismo e nota guida alpina, capitò nel 1935 di assistere ad una tragedia sulle Alpi Occidentali (Punta Rasica) che portò alla morte di sei scalatori per assideramento. All'epoca si arrampicava con pedule di corda che venivano calzate, al posto dei classici scarponi chiodati da avvicinamento, quando si giungeva ai piedi della parete da scalare (dove appunto si lasciavano gli scarponi da recuperare al ritorno). Comprendendo come tale incidente fosse stato causato dell'inadeguatezza delle calzature impiegate - gli scalatori sulla via del ritorno erano stati colti dal mal tempo quando ancora calzavano le pedule - Bramani si impegnò nello sviluppo di un nuovo tipo di suola che permettesse di costruire degli scarponi in grado di consentire non solo l'avvicinamento alla montagna ma anche la scalata. Grazie alla sua conoscenza con Leopoldo Pirelli la sua idea geniale si concretizzò con la produzione della prima suola di gomma vulcanizzata immessa in mercato, col disegno della tassellatura detto a carrarmato e marchiata Vibram dalle sue iniziali (Vi-tale Bram-ani), suola che consentiva ottime prestazioni in termini di resistenza alla abrasione, alla trazione, e di aderenza, nonchè di arrampicata fino al 4° grado. Nel 1937 Ettore Castiglioni e Vitale Bramani conquistavano per primi la parete di nord-ovest del Pizzo Badile sperimentando assieme le suole Vibram. Nel 1954 gli alpinisti italiani dell'ascesa al K2 indossavano scarponi con suola Vibram.

Please note that the magazine "Lo scarpone" some years ago reported the full story of the Punta Rasica tragedy. Bramani was the alpine guide leading the group. On the way back he was forced to abandon the main group and bring back as quick as possible a rich industrialist who menaced to suit him in law courts in case he had not brought him back safe and quickly in the storm. When Bramani went back to the group left on the descent (it took some hours to go down to the valley and then back), 6 people had died in the cold.

The point is that climbing was usually done with "scarponi chiodati" (leather nailed boots ? ) up to the stone walls, then the alpinists used to change shoes and use special light climbing shoes (pedùle) made with "canapa/corda" to climb on walls (leather nailed boots were not good for climbing but walking). Alpinists used to leave the boots unattended at the foot of the stone walls and recover them on the way back. On that occasion, coming down from Punta Rasica they could not get the boots back so they suffered from improper shoes  while being stuck on the ice and with the incoming storm.

This is the real and sad story.

For more info do write me and I'll try to look for the original article on "Lo scarpone".

Ramp -  Oct 05, 2007 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.60.88.1 (talk • contribs) 21:48, 5 October 2007‎ (UTC)


 * There's no way to contact you, since you edited anonymously and didn't leave an e-mail address. Here's the raw output from Google Translate with a few edits, but badly in need of idiomatic transliteration:  Vitale Bramani, active in mountaineering and as a mountain guide during the 1930s, witnessed a tragedy in the Western Alps (it:Punta Rasciassa) in 1935, leading to the deaths of six climbers who froze to death. At the time climbing boots clad with rope were exchanged for the classic hobnail boots worn for approach when climbers reached the foot of the wall; the hiking boots would be left there for retrieval upon their return. Understanding how this incident was caused by inadequate footwear — climbers on the descent had been caught by bad weather while still putting on hiking boots — Bramani became engaged in the development of a new type of sole that would allow to build the boots able to provide not only learn about the mountains but also climbing. Thanks to his acquaintance with Leopoldo Pirelli, Bramani's brilliant idea came to fruition with the first production of vulcanized rubber soles put on the market, with a "tank tread" design marked with the initial syllables of his name (Vi-tale Bram-ani).  They had good performance in terms of abrasion resistance, tensile, and adhesion, as well as climbing up to grade 4. In 1937 Ettore Castiglioni and Vitale Bramani first conquered the northwest wall of Pizzo Badile, experimenting with Vibram soles.  During the 1954 Italian ascent of K2, climbers wore boots with Vibram soles. &mdash; QuicksilverT @ 19:53, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
 * (In the forgoing, verbum sap, but for many beginners or non-climbers that's "YDS grade 4" ...Which reminds me that no one may have yet addressed the confusion manifested about that grade on talk:YDS.... --Jerzy•t 23:36, 2 April 2018 (UTC)
 * "You could look it up in Wikipedia." I heard of him when i was trained as a rock-climber a decade and more ago, and misconstrued (or perhaps was misinformed) that he was a polymer chemist, and that his trademark was for the formula for the rubber, rather than for the other aspects of the sole; in any case, i've repeatedly (in my role as a volunteer hiking guide), mis-described him as such -- not to mention attributing the deaths of the entire rest of the party to falls and describing him as primarily, and solely by chance, the sole (no puns intended) survivor among an informal group of peers. "Is my face red"!... I guess i should be relieved that i didn't become one of the half-cocked editors who presume to add their undocumented war stories   to the article, based on their confidence of having been given, and having remembered, The Truth. --Jer-"You  can usually get away with saying anything you think you know, as long as you don't put it in writing"-zy 23:36, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

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