After twenty years, the Silver Plaque returns to Romania. At the Paladolomiti in Pinzolo, the award ceremony for Mircea Opris, founder of the Romanian National Alpine Rescue Association, took place. This special recognition was given in memory of Gino Comelli (Alta Val di Fassa Alpine Rescue) and Othmar Prinoth (Val Gardena Alpine Rescue), who passed away last year.
Mircea Opris, originally from Brașov, Romania, is the winner of the 54th Silver Plaque – Pinzolo International Alpine Solidarity Award. “A person as modest as he is capable of great things, generous and enterprising,” reads the award citation. Opris is among the founders of the Romanian National Alpine Rescue Association, along with Avel Ritisan, who received the Silver Plaque in 2005. A tireless advocate for volunteer training, he established a mountain rescue training center, making a decisive contribution to the growth of the sector in his country.
The ceremony took place at the Paladolomiti in Pinzolo, a symbolic location that annually hosts the award ceremony. The award was conceived by Angiolino Binelli to celebrate the altruism of those who, in the mountains, risk their lives to save others, without asking for anything in return.
An award that, as President Giuseppe Ciaghi emphasized, takes on ever deeper meaning each year:
“In an era in which the value of human life often seems to be diminished, we are here to build bridges, starting from the principle of solidarity and overcoming every barrier.”
During the ceremony, the Award Organizing Committee – accepting the proposal of the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps (CNSAS) – also paid tribute to two great figures of Italian mountain rescue, Gino Comelli and Othmar Prinoth, pioneers who passed away in 2024. Both were among the founders of Aiut Alpin Dolomites, one of the first structured helicopter rescue systems in Italy.
Comelli, the first national instructor of the Trentino Provincial Service of the CNSAS, had already received the Silver Plaque in 2010, awarded to the Alta Val di Fassa Alpine Rescue Station, for which he was responsible. Prinoth, a rescuer and trainer for decades at the Val Gardena Alpine Rescue Station, was one of the longest-serving and most respected instructors in South Tyrol.
“Two masters, two pioneers, two men whose expertise, commitment, and vision formed the foundation upon which an entire generation of rescuers was formed,”
said Maurizio Dellantonio, president of the CNSAS, in his moving remembrance.
In his speech, the mayor of Pinzolo, Michele Cereghini, emphasized the importance of recognizing the work of rescuers, especially during a particularly busy summer for mountain operations:
“It is our duty to remember and thank the men and women of mountain rescue. The Award not only celebrates their courage and dedication, but also promotes a mountain culture based on safety, respect, and responsibility.”
Also present, demonstrating the support of local institutions, were Roberto Failoni, provincial councilor for Crafts, Commerce, Tourism, Forestry, Hunting, and Fishing, and Tullio Serafini, president of the Madonna di Campiglio Tourist Board.
THE PRIZEWINNER
A life dedicated to mountaineering and mountain rescue is the motivation with which the Committee of the International Alpine Solidarity Award of Pinzolo decided to award the 54th Silver Plaque to Mircea Opris, Romanian from Brasov, a person as modest as he is capable of great things, generous and enterprising.
Of the numerous nominations received, the choice fell unanimously on the one presented by Salvamont Romania.
The environment in which he lives and a great passion for the mountains led him to practice mountaineering at a very young age, where he highlighted extraordinary skills, traced numerous new routes in the Carpathians, made daring winter ascents, was called to the National School as an instructor and took part in a prestigious expedition to the summit of Pik Kommunizma (7495 m) in the Pamir in 1972. In that very year the Romanian Federation of Mountaineering and Tourism awarded him the title of Master of Sports. In 1992 he was among the founders of the National Alpine Rescue Association together with Avel Ritisan, who received the Silver Plate in Pinzolo in 2005. He was elected president and held this position until 2016.
He promoted intense training activities for volunteers and, thanks to their commitment and availability, built rescue bases and mountain refuges in areas that required constant assistance. In 2005, after three years of work, he created a Alpine Rescue Training Center in the Bucegi massif with an area equipped for rescue operations from cableways. He made his experiences available in the volume Il libro del soccorritore alpino, a valuable manual for those who work in the sector.
A MEMORY AWARD FOR GINO COMELLI AND OTHMAR PRINOTH
Welcoming with pleasure, not to say enthusiasm, the proposal of Maurizio Dellantonio, president of the National Alpine and Speleological Rescue Corps, the Pinzolo International Alpine Solidarity Award Committee has decided to honor Gino Comelli and Othmar Prinoth, extraordinary rescuers who passed away last year. During the award ceremony of the 54th Silver Plaque to Romanian Mircea Opris on September 20th in Pinzolo, a meaningful memento created by the artist Mastro7 will be presented to their families.
“I feel it is a privilege, an honor for me every time I am called to help those in danger…” These words struck a chord in Pinzolo. Spoken by Gino in 2010, when he received from Angiolino Binelli the Silver Plaque awarded to the Alta Val di Fassa Alpine Rescue Station, of which he was the director, they convey a sense of the man’s qualities, his way of being, acting, and thinking—that of a generous man, as capable as he was humble and modest, a beautiful person who left a profound impression on those fortunate enough to know and appreciate him, an example of the spirit of solidarity that animates all CNSAS volunteers.
Othmar Prinoth was the heart and soul of the Val Gardena Alto Adige Alpine Rescue Station.
Alpine guides and Alpine Rescue instructors Gino Comelli and Othmar Prinoth, born in 1954 and 1955, were cornerstones of CNSAS training and founding fathers of one of the first organized helicopter rescue systems in Italy, the Aiut Alpin Dolomites.
Comelli was the first national instructor for the Trentino Provincial Service of the CNSAS, while Prinoth was one of the longest-serving instructors in Alto Adige. Different in their backgrounds, they were united by the same vision: a passion for the mountains, a love for their peaks, and the mission to rescue those who shared their spirit.
For over thirty years, they flew as winch operators for the Aiut Alpin, witnesses and protagonists in the birth of a system that anticipated, in its method and vision, modern regional air rescue services, a model of technical medical intervention in harsh environments that today saves lives every day.
Unfortunately, fate also brought them together in their farewells to life. They passed away not long after each other, struck by a silent illness just as they were enjoying their second spring: retirement, time regained, horizons free from shifts and deadlines.
Two masters, two pioneers, two men whose expertise, commitment, and vision formed the foundation upon which an entire generation of rescuers was built.
Gino and Othmar didn’t just train technicians; they instilled a sense of rescue based on rigor, courage, and, above all, the importance of being human before being technicians: a living legacy that continues to fly today with every helicopter that soars.
