A 54-year-old message was found in a tuna can atop a remote mountain: “We’re not alone”
A Turkish expedition in the Kackar Mountains has found a message left by Italian mountaineers over half a century ago.
A Turkish expedition exploring the Kackar Mountains has uncovered a 54-year-old message hidden inside a tuna can - left behind by a group of Italian climbers in 1972 - and brought back to light at the summit of Atalani, 3,510 meters above sea level.
The note read: “20‑8‑72, CAI Pordenone Expedition Italy, altitude 3510, Enzo Laconca, Giovanni Martin.” The Turkish team then contacted the Italian Alpine Club (CAI), which confirmed the 1972 journey of the three mountaineers. They had made the trip in two Volkswagen Beetles, driving across the former Yugoslavia, Greece, and the length of Turkey. “To pay for the trip, I sold my stereo. I didn’t have much money - I was working as a laborer at Zanussi,” Martin recalled in comments reported by the newspaper Agi.
🏔️ İtalyan dağcıların Kaçkar Dağları zirvesine bıraktığı not 54 yıl sonra bulundu
— Anadolu Ajansı (@anadoluajansi) January 8, 2026
🧗 Kaçkar Dağları’na tırmanan Türk dağcılar, zirvede bir konserve kutusu buldu
🗓️ Kutudaki notta 20 Ağustos 1972 tarihi ve İtalyan dağcıların isimleri yer aldı
🇮🇹 Notun, Club Alpino Italiano… pic.twitter.com/uqrNtOCKNa
“A window opened onto a distant world”
The expedition was led by lleris Pizzur, Sisto Degan, Enzo Laconca, Martin, and Ezio Migotto. After their long road trip, the Italian climbers reached the villages at the foot of the mountains and began tackling peak after peak. They ultimately summited 32 mountains - 19 of them previously unclimbed.
Their journey was both recreational and scientific, as they aimed to collect rock samples and carry out topographical studies that were later shared with Turkish researchers. At the time, the region - in northeastern Turkey, near the Georgian border - had not yet been fully explored.
The present-day Turkish team, led by Metin Colak, was stunned when they saw the more than half-century-old date on the message. “When we realized it had been left by someone, we felt like we’re not alone; a window opened onto a distant world, and we experienced firsthand the value of an everlasting passion,” Colak explained.
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