The Mezzalama Trophy ( it, Trofeo Mezzalama, french: Trophée Mezzalama, a.k.a. ''white marathon''''Le tappe dealla leggendaria "maratona bianca"''
(Italian)) is an Italian high altitude

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipmen ...

competition in upper

Valtournenche Valtournenche (local Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of north-western Italy, above the sea level. It is named after and covers most of the ''Valtournenche'', a valley on the left side of the Dora Baltea, from C ...

and Ayas valleys, in

Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

. The Mezzalama Trophy, which belongs to the "big three of ski mountaineering" (french: les grandes trois de ski de montagne) besides the two other best-known and classical ski mountaineering events, the

Patrouille des Glaciers The Patrouille des Glaciers (PDG) is a ski mountaineering race organised every two years by the Swiss Armed Forces, in which military and civilian teams compete. It takes place once every two years at the end of April, in the south part of the can ...

and the

Pierra Menta The Pierra Menta has been an annual competition of ski mountaineering at Arêches-Beaufort in the region of Beaufort, Savoie south-eastern France since 1986. The Pierra Menta is one of the three best known races of the Alps (''les grandes trois de ...

, is the highest alpine ski mountaineering competition of the world. The event in the

Monte Rosa : , other_name = Monte Rosa massif , translation = Mount Rose , photo = Dufourspitze (Monte Rosa) and Monte Rosa Glacier as seen from Gornergrat, Wallis, Switzerland, 2012 August.jpg , photo_caption = Central Mon ...

's massif was named in honor of the mountain guide

Ottorino Mezzalama Ottorino Mezzalama (born September 25, 1888 – February 23, 1931) was an Italian mountain climber, and is deemed to be one of the two pioneers of Italian ski mountaineering besides Luciano Roiti. He died in an avalanche accident in the Rochemoll ...

.''Trofeo Mezzalama 2007: 16. Auflage des Klassikers am 29. April''
(German), M2b, April 26, 2007. The Mezzalama Trophy is a stage of La Grande Course that includes the most important ski mountaineering competitions of the season.

History

The Mezzalama Trophy Foundation was founded by friends of Ottorino Mezzalama in 1933 in his memory, one of them was Mario Corti. The race was held every year from 1933 and to 1938. Entry was open only to men; the first female participant is presumed to be

Paula Wiesinger Paula (Paola) Rosa Wiesinger later Steger (27 February 1907 – 12 June 2001) was a pioneering Italian alpine skier and mountain climber who competed at one edition of Winter Olympics and three editions of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championship ...

, who had been invited to view the race in 1935. When

Giusto Gervasutti Giusto Gervasutti (17 April 1909 – 16 September 1946) was an Italian mountain climber, Alpini officer and skier. Biography Gervasutti, also known as "Il Fortissimo" ("the strongest"), was born in Cervignano del Friuli. He started climbing at th ...

withdrew due to injury, she put on his military uniform and cap and, wearing sunglasses, ran instead of him, but was discovered at a checkpoint. The 1935 Trofeo Mezzalama was filmed by Mario Craveri in his film "Maratona Bianca". After 1938 the race was discontinued (except that in 1940 a ''platonic'' race was carried out under the name ''marcia nazionale Ottorino Mezzalama'' by the ''Ski Club Torino''). Further races were held in 1971, 1973, 1975, and in 1978, and the Mezzalama Trophy was revived as a regular biennial race with the eleventh race in 1997. Cervinia01

In 1975, the Mezzalama Trophy was held as World Championship of Skimountaineering. 33 civilian teams, 12

mountain guide A mountain guide is a specially trained and experienced professional mountaineer who is certified by local authorities or mountain guide associations. They are considered to be high-level experts in mountaineering, and are hired to instruct or ...

teams and 11 military teams participated in this event. In that year, the first female team competed officially.Giuseppe Martelli
''altre notizie degli alpini bolognesi romagnoli''
(Italian), November 15, 2005. Together with the Pierra Menta and the

Tour du Rutor Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

event, the Mezzalama Trophy is part of the Trophée des Alpes (French for ''

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

' Trophy'') series.

Editions and winners

The list shows the winning teams for each edition of the Trofeo Mezzalama. In 1934, all competing teams were overtaken by the German reserve racer

Anderl Heckmair Andreas "Anderl" Heckmair (12 October 1906 – 1 February 2005) was a German mountain climber and guide who led the first successful ascent of the Eiger north face in July 1938. Eiger first ascent The most experienced mountaineer in a group c ...

, who started as a single racer one and a half hours after the teams left.''Trofeo Mezzalama - Ein Hochgebirgswettlauf der Sonderklasse''
(German), p. 44.

Literature

* Umberto Pelazza, Antonio Vizzi: ''Il Trofeo Mezzalama 1933-1997 : Storia e leggenda della sci-alpinistica piu alta del mondo'' (Italian) (Aosta) - ed. La Vallee, 1999 *

Rolf Majcen Rolf Majcen (born 1966) is a Lower Austrian economist-lawyer, writer and extreme sports athlete. Biography Majcen was born in Johannesburg. He is the grandnephew of Karl Majcen, the former General-Inspector of the Austrian Bundesheer. He earne ...

: ''Bergauf - Abenteuer Ausdauersport'' (German)

References

{{reflist, 3

External links

Official Website

at ''euroski-on-line.com'' Ski mountaineering competitions Skiing in Italy Sport in Aosta Valley 1933 in Italy 1933 in Italian sport