Hi everyone, and welcome!
My name is Dario. From Monday to Friday I work as a mechanical engineer and designer; on weekends I'm a passionate mountaineer and ski mountaineer.
How CDR began
My passion for the mountains has led me to use climbing pitons frequently. The problem? Every time I had to place one and then leave it behind in the rock, it was a little heartbreaking — not so much because of the piton itself, but because of its price!
At some point, I thought: “What if I tried making them myself?”
And that's how it all started. I began designing and producing my own pitons, experimenting with different materials and manufacturing processes. The results were surprisingly good: the product performed very well and, after making several for my friends as well, I started receiving very positive feedback.
What started simply as a way to avoid feeling bad every time I left a piton behind on the wall has grown into something much bigger.
What we do today
CDR designs and sells climbing gear. In our store you will find bolting equipment in 316L stainless steel by Lappas — expansion anchors, hangers, lower-off anchor stations, carabiners and complete kits — along with pitons and peckers.
Where we want to go
I want to take the piton project to its full potential: developing them with the manufacturing process I believe is best suited to this type of component, hot forging, and completing the necessary testing and certification, turning the prototype into a product ready to be used by a much wider community of climbers and mountaineers.
The goal is simple: to create a high-quality climbing piton, designed to deliver performance comparable to the best alternatives already on the market, but at a much more accessible price.
Because when you're high on a wall, the last thing I want is for the price of your gear to become a reason to compromise on safety.
Thank you for being here. For any question, write to us from the Contact page.