Trofeo Mezzalama XXIII Edizione

ATTENTION!! The start of the Mezzalama trophy has been postponed to 06:30.
The FIRST ASCENT by cable car is therefore scheduled at 06:00
The XXIII edition of the Mezzalama Trophy, ski mountaineering race that starts from Breuil-Cervinia and arrives in Gressoney-La-Trinité after 45 kilometers and a positive elevation gain of 2,862 meters, will be held on 22 April 2023.
From this year the first edition of the Sky Climb Mezzalama by Dynafit will be organized.

As part of the prestigious La Grande Course circuit, the competition reserved for youth categories was confirmed for 2023.

The historic Valdostan ski mountaineering race born in 1933 is the only competition in the world to take place on the glaciers through three four thousand, the summit of Castore (4126 m) and the Nose of Lyskamm and, since 2023, the Rock of discovery (4177 m).
Registration will open on 4th February 2023 at the link: REGISTRATION and will close on 10th April.
The Mezzalama Trophy is a race reserved only for the best ski mountaineers, the competition is attended by a maximum of 300 teams formed by three athletes. Each athlete, in the application form, must attach a sports-mountaineering curriculum that proves the ability to move in a severe environment like that of the glaciers of Monte Rosa.

Mezzalama Trophy or the glacier marathon. A marathon with skis, and to be exact mountaineering skis, those with mobile bindings that are used for the descent, but also and especially for the climb by sticking the "skins" under the insole. The glaciers on which the neuralgic part of the path takes place, above three thousand meters and exceeding in two sections of the path even the four thousand, are those of the Aosta Valley that cloak the peaks of Monte Rosa, upstream of Cervinia, Champoluc and Gressoney.
It has always been a race-event being the highest ski mountaineering test in the Alps because it passes the summit of Castore (4226 m) and the Passo del Naso dei Lyskamm (4150 m). It is also the most classic race because it was born in 1933, at the time when the first ski resorts and lifts were built, but the Mezzalama Trophy has remained faithful to the authentic ski-adventure of pioneers that then as today faces the high mountains without any mechanical help, the real off-piste both uphill and downhill.

The development of ski mountaineering after the Great War was encouraged by the intense exploratory activity of the Turin Ottorino Mezzalama who in the early thirties, one segment after another, had now managed to test a great haute-route of the Alps, from the Ligurian Alps to the Brenner. When Mezzalama on 23 February 1931 fell victim to an avalanche near Vipiteno, among the Turin friends of CAI, the Ski Club Torino and the Alpine Academic Club flashed the idea of remembering him and passing on his passion with an international race in the mountains, of unprecedented sporting commitment, open to teams of three elements: the Mezzalama Trophy.
Its history, rather eventful both for the large organizational burden that involves, both for the hard and volatile weather conditions at high altitude, is divided into three periods separated by long interruptions.

From 1933 to 1938 the first six consecutive editions were held, which tested the daring mountaineering track for the time. Then we started from Colle del Teodulo (3300 m) to reach the finish line at Alpe Gabiet (2400 m), passing through the summit of Castore and Passo del Naso. After the initial success of guides of Valtournenche and miners of La Thuile, from 1935 the race was regularly dominated by the teams of the Alpine Military School of Aosta. Equipped with light cross-country skis and scientifically trained, the Alpine winners of the Mezzalama snatched the gold medal from the Scandinavian favorites in the similar patrol race at the 1936 Olympics in Garmisch. Since the eve of World War II the race disappears.

After thirty years of interruption, the legendary, unforgettable Mezzalama is reborn on the initiative of the gressonaro Romano Cugnetto.  From 1971 to 1978 there were four editions, in which the same route was followed in the 1930s. Military, Alpine and Forestry teams always win. The 1975 edition counts as the 1st edition of the World Ski Mountaineering Championship. In 1981, bad weather disrupted any attempt to start a new edition, until the organizers were forced to surrender.

With the spread of sport ski mountaineering, the Mezzalama has risen thanks to a foundation supported by the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley that organizes the race every two years. Despite the vagaries of the weather and the large organizational costs, thanks to the impressive staff of guides, ski instructors, military and volunteers directed by the guide of Champoluc Adriano Favre, the modern race has been regularly held since 1997 in odd years for six editions. Of the historical Mezzalama remain the teams of three elements in the roped, but the path has lengthened a lot in the head and in the tail: the start is placed at the bottom of the slopes of Cervinia (m 2020) and the finish in Gressoney-la Trinité (m 1637). Since 2001, the regulation has banned cross-country skiing, preferred by military teams, imposing on all large skis adopted in international ski mountaineering competitions.

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