Alpen
Alpen is one of several manufacturers that form a consortium known as the "scissor cluster" based in Premana, a small village, populated by artisans, situated on a steep terrain 1000 metres high in the foothills of the Alps near Lake Como.Here skills are passed down from parent to child through many generations.
Premana has been associated with iron forging as far back as Roman times. Historically this is due to iron ore veins in the Valsassina and Valvarrone valleys, nearby forests providing wood for the smelting furnaces, rivers that gave motive power to operate the hammers, and a well-established iron processing industry which grew up around the Lecco neighbourhood. The proximity of Milan allowed for trade to flourish. In the past Premana iron was sent to Venice to make the beaks for Venetian gondolas known as "fero da prora"
Today Alpen shares its fame alongside other Premana based family-run businesses. C.A.M.P. is one of the world's leading manufacturers of equipment for climbing, ski mountaineering and industrial safety, producing ice axes. crampons, helmets, pitons, camming devices etc. The renowned FATIP razor is also manufactured in this district.
Premana may be small but its entrepreneurial spirit is large.
