Camadan: Turkish mountaineers climbing the Kackar Mountains along Trkiye's eastern Black Sea coast discovered a note left in a tin can by Italian mountaineers who visited the region in 1972. CAMADAN Mountaineering and Winter Sports Specialized Club President Metin Colak and club members Hakan Demirci, Adem Sahin, Musa Kesimal, and Ercument Gumus carried out a climbing activity about a month and a half ago.

According to Anadolu Agency - English, during their ascent, the climbers noticed a chimney-shaped structure commonly referred to as a 'summit cairn,' usually built by mountaineers to mark their presence. Inside an upside-down tin can weighted with stones, they found a piece of paper wrapped in plastic bearing the note: '20-8-72, Spedizione CAI Pordenone Italy, Quota 3510, Enzo Laconca, Giovanni Martin.'

After researching the date, address, and names written on the note, the group learned that the climbers were members of the Club Alpino Italiano. They contacted the mountaineering club via social media and discovered that the note belonged to Italian climbers Alleris Pizzur, Sisto Degan, Enzo Laconca, Gianni Martin, and Ezio Migotto, who visited the region in 1972 and were between the ages of 23 and 32 at the time.

Colak told Anadolu that the area they climbed is not a well-known location and expressed surprise that Italian mountaineers had been at the same spot 54 years earlier. He noted that five athletes from their club climbed the isolated 3,428-meter Atalani peak in the Kackar Mountains.

Colak said they were very excited after finding the note, adding that it felt as if the sense of time disappeared at that moment. None of the five climbers who reached the summit that day were alive when the note was left, making the discovery even more remarkable.

He further noted that the eastern Black Sea region is highly suitable for mountaineering activities, revealing that a Czechoslovak team also made an ascent in 1969.

Club member Hakan Demirci said they maintained positive communication with the Italian mountaineering club, which was surprised by the discovery and requested photographs. The club published a report and reached one of the original climbers.

The climbers plan to preserve the tin can and note, displaying them in a proposed mountaineering museum in Trkiye's eastern Black Sea region. The Italian club has expressed interest in attending the opening and helping establish connections with mountaineers from that era.