As the Church prepares to canonize Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, a fresh wave of Catholic climbers is rediscovering the young Italian’s passion for the mountains—and for God.
“Verso l’alto”—to the heights—was Frassati’s motto, one that echoed both his love of alpine peaks and his pursuit of holiness. For modern-day climbers like Edoardo Ricci, Frassati’s spirituality is more than just a historical detail—it’s personal. “I think that I was saved by him,” Ricci told CNA, recalling how he survived an avalanche during a ski tour without injury.
The 24-year-old Turin native, who died of polio in 1925, is becoming a symbol for those who view mountaineering not just as a sport, but as a sacred encounter. “Mountain alpinism is a way to, you know, touch the untouchable,” Ricci said. “You can feel … very close to God” (CNA, July 2025).
Frassati’s alpine adventures were serious endeavors. He was a member of the Italian Alpine Club and completed several advanced climbs. Among his most difficult ascents were Mount Grivola (13,000 feet), Grand Tournalin (11,086 feet), and Château des Dames (11,443 feet). After summiting Grivola, he famously wrote in Latin, “Grivola victa est”—Grivola has been conquered.
While some climbs were technical, others were deeply spiritual. During his visits to his grandparents in Pollone, Frassati made pilgrimages on foot to the Marian Sanctuary of Oropa, home to the Black Madonna. “Tomorrow, as is my custom every time I leave Pollone, I’ll go up to Oropa to pray in the Holy Shrine. I’ll remember you at the feet of the brown Madonna,” he wrote in 1925.
Frassati even devised a creative solution to make the early-morning hike: he tied a rope to his wrist or nightstand and let it hang out the window so the gardener could tug on it and wake him without disturbing the rest of the house, according to Christine Wohar of Frassati USA.
Today, pilgrims can follow the “Frassati Trail” from the Sanctuary of Oropa to the peak of Mount Mucrone, retracing the saint’s footsteps in both body and spirit.
Yet Frassati’s journey wasn’t only about mountaintops. As Father Luca Bertarelli of Pollone observed, “Pier Giorgio felt [his family’s] misunderstanding, and it was a great difficulty.” His studies in mining engineering were also a challenge. “He was very intelligent, but he chose a faculty … that was very difficult for him,” Bertarelli said. Even prayer was a spiritual struggle. “In some letters he wrote that prayer was very difficult for him. And this is the sign of great interiority, the spiritual battle.”
Despite these trials, Frassati radiated joy and conviction. “Mountains, mountains, mountains, I love you,” he once scrawled on a note taped to his bedroom door. Just weeks before his death, he climbed again in the Valli di Lanzo with friends. On the back of a photo from that day, he wrote his final motto: Verso l’alto.
As St. John Paul II said during his 1989 visit to Oropa, “May you also discover, like Pier Giorgio, the way to the shrine, embarking on a spiritual journey that, under the guidance of Mary, will bring you ever closer to Christ.”
Through each ascent, Blessed Pier Giorgio reminds Catholics that true elevation isn’t found only in the mountains—but in the soul’s steady climb toward God.
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