Mario Piacenza

In 1911, Mario Piacenza filmed the ascent to the Dent du Geant. The copy of the film that is preserved, restored by the Museo Nazionale del Cinema of Torino, shows a collection of scenes of three roped climbers ascending to the highest point of the Dent du Geant and then, using ropes to descend from the rock pinnacles. The editing of the film seems to be imprecise and without the intention to constitute a documented narration of the ascent. With better results, Piacenza filmed the year after, the notable 'Ascensione al Cervino', and this suggests that maybe 'Ascensione al Dente del Gigante' served him as a test film for the more ambitions Matterhorn film.

Mario Piacenza filmed in 1911 an ascent to the Matterhorn from the italian side, by the Lion Ridge. In the film, a party of four climbers ascend from Cervinia to the Colle del Leone. From there they start the real rock climbing part. The team ascend the chimney using a fixed rope with knots to reach the Luigi di Savoia Hut at 3830 meters and later, the snow covered Tyndall Peak. Finally the team arrive to the Italian summit and two men cross to Swiss side. The film ends with a panoramic of the Matterhorn from Zermatt, suggesting the descent down the Swiss face.