C.A.M.P.

C.A.M.P. were born in 1889 in the mountain village of Premana, located at the highest of Valsassina valley, where it is situated even by now. The founder Nicola Codega, expert in wrought iron working, operates in a little workshop and with a few co-workers make products for to the local economy, for the village itself and the surroundings.

The traditions and working experience are handed on from father to son, and it is Antonio who inherits those works and begins to develop them. In 1920 the first axes are produced on order by a former Army officer: those tools served to the alpine troops for their long crossings walks in the Alps. But no one could think that those products would become a real and proper brand of the factory and would be distributed in the whole world some decades after.

The mainspring that drivess Antonio and especially for his sons to enter the mountaineering market is the meeting with the world famous alpinist Riccardo Cassin, who relies on C.A.M.P. for producing some gear such as pitons and nuts. The charisma of this figure induces the new company’s owners to increase the interest for this market, that is already expanding significantly at the end of sixties.

The following period is characterized by a very clear choice towards manufacturing and selling of mountaineering products, while quickly it comes the need of getting involved with those the practice mountaineering and climbing at the highest levels.

Therefore, the third generation headed by Orazio, Nicolino, Samuele and Benedetto enters into a relationship with the strongest international alpinists, and from these collaborations the history-making products are born: Hummingbird ice-tools, Foot Fang crampons, Tri-cams came our from the joint work with the Lowe brothers, dynasty of climbers and designers out of Colorado, USA. Later on, the influence of personalities like Renato Casarotto, Jerzy Kukuzcka, Patrick Gabarrou leads to the search of innovative solutions for extreme alpinism around the world, from Alps to Himalaya, to Patagonia, to Canadian ice falls.

The company’s development continues constantly on all fronts thanks to the continuous product innovation but also to the big attention to markets trends: in the mid eighties C.A.M.P. open its first affiliate in the French territory (Camp France). The investment continues on the production side, too, with the creation, along with our partners, of Aludesign: a company devoted to the development of aluminum product ranges, carabiners in particular.

Following the innovation path, thanks also to the collaboration with alpinists like the French Patrick Berhault, C.A.M.P. shift their attention to a new approach to high end alpinism: is the spark for researching on lightness.

This attention becomes a fundamental point for development of all products, and it will make of C.A.M.P. the reference brand in this area. The 33 grams carabiner (beaten only almost 20 years later by a new CAMP carabiner, the, Nanowire with its 28 gr.), the harness Sprint, the injected helmets first, and those in polycarbonate later, axes and crampons, those are only some examples of products developed following this principle that allows the climber to move faster and safer on every kind of slopes.

As always the product’s development goes at the same pace of the commercial one: the countries of export reach the number of 60 thanks to the introduction of the brand in new rising countries like China, India and other countries of South-East Asia. The company’s quality system is certified according to the ISO 9001 standard first, and ISO 9001:2000 afterwards. At the end of the nineties C.A.M.P. buy the Cassin brand, and opens a second international facility nearby Boulder, Colorado, to serve the US market: other two events that testify the motivation to being international and playing an always more important role in the outdoor market.

Then the approach to industrial safety market begins: also in this case C.A.M.P. make their century-old experience available all activities connected to those industries that need personal protective equipment. This choice allows to discover new situations, to meet new customers and to continue the enrichment derived from the relationships with different people and cultures.

The first years of the new millennium see the fourth generation of Codega family taking the helm of the company: Eddy, Antonio, Paolo, Giovanni, Isacco and Andrea reaffirm with renovated energy the strategic choice based on strong motivation towards innovation, testified by the new projects of enlargement of the Research  and Development division, and towards a dedicated, tailor-made relationship with our customers.