Until a few decades ago in Colle San Magno packed snow was used to chill food in the summer.
During the winter, over a thousand meters up Mount Cairo, large holes were dug in the ground. At every snowfall, the mountain was climbed to press the snow and cover it with straw, which was used as heat-insulation.
In the summer the compressed snow, transformed into ice, was cut into pieces, carried downstream with mules and sold in the various municipalities of the valley.
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