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Trofeo Mezzalama

Mezzalama 2019: Italians Win in Mens while French Win the Womens Race, 6th for North American Ladies

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Windy conditions at Mezzalama 2019. Source and credit: Trofeo Mezzalama.

Trofeo Mezzalama, being held every second year, is often affected by severe weather conditions as its course takes athletes to high alpine ridges that hover around the altitude of 4000 m. The 2019 edition was no different and due to strong winds the organizers had to be creative, however, they still delivered a challenging and exciting route.

Men’s Race

An amazing battle took place between the top three men’s teams, and only the last climb and descent decided the winner. In the last couple of years, in the World Cup and Grand Course races, the strength of the current Italian team is undeniable and the trio of Michele Boscacci, Robert Antonioli and Matteo Eydallin came on top once again in 4h 45min 30sec.

For Matteo Eydallin, the specialist of long team races, this was the fifth Mezzalama victory as he lost only one edition since 2009!

Second place went to a strong Swiss team – Marti Werner, William Boffelli and Martin Anthamatten – who challenged the Italians almost the whole day. At the end, they lost only 2min 51sec in this almost 5h race.

Source and credit: Trofeo Mezzalama.

Kilian Jornet teamed up with an Austrian Jakob Herrmann, his 2018 Pierra Menta partner where they led until the last stage, and Jakob’s countrymen Armin Hoefl. While perhaps not as strong as the top two teams on paper, this trio was hot on the heels of the Swiss and missed on the second place by only 1min at the finish line.

» Men’s race full results

Women’s Race

In the women’s race, a dominant French team – Axelle Mollaret, Alba de Silvestro, Lorna Bonnel – took the win with a big gap.

The race behind them was much more interesting as only 30 seconds were the difference between second and third! Two Italian teams battled all the way to the finish line with Giulia Murada, Ilaria Veronese and Mara Martini prevailing over Elena Nicolini, Bianca Balzarini and Corina Ghirardi.

Alba de Silvestro from the second placed Italian team. Source and credit: Trofeo Mezzalama.

The elite category North American women’s team delivered a great performance to place 6th despite racing together for the very first time. Canadian Kylee Ohler teamed up with two US Team members Jessie Young and Sierra Anderson to take on the challenge. Both Kylee and Jessie have lots of experience from big skimo races while Sierra is quickly learning yet has tremendous athletic base from other sports.

» Women’s race full results

2017 Skimo World Cup Calendar, World Championships, La Grand Course + Update on IOC recognition of ISMF/Skimo

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mondole-skimo-world-cup-5
Recent International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) annual meeting brought many important decisions and updates regarding our sport. The meeting took place last week in Albufeira, Portugal.

Update on IOC recognition of ISMF

ISMF President  Armando Mariotta presented that “…the full recognition of ISMF as an Olympic Federation will be taken at the beginning of August, during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games opening   working session.”
Should IOC recognize ISMF as an Olympic Federation then this would be a major step for skimo racing to be included in the Olympic Games at some point in the future, perhaps even in the next few years.

2017 World Cup calendar and new La Grande Course (long course) arrangement

A new format is being designed  between ISMF  World Cup  and LGC circuit. This should be an important development for all serious (international level) skimo racers.
The ISMF vice president, Lluis Lopez said: “We believe in keeping the link strong, but we don’t want to impose any format. The aim is to share the same path in the sake of ski mountaineering and the desire to continue collaborating has been the priority from both sides”. Pierre Dupont, representing the French Federation, has been in charge of conducting the new arrangement and added that “the Grande Course will no longer be a part of the World Cup, but will remain under the spirit of ISMF.”

2017 ISMF World Cup and La Grande Course calendar:

ismf-logo-300x120WC = World Cup
LGC = La Grande Course (under ISMF)
grande-course-logo-300x210
January 14-15: Suggested dates for countries for their National Championships
January 21-22: Font Blanca WC (Andorra)
– individual (day 1)
– vertical (day 2)
January 28-29: Alp d’Huez WC (France)
– individual (day 1)
– sprint (day 2)
February 11-12: Turkey WC (Turkey)
– individual (day 1)
– sprint (day 2)
February 23 – March 2: ISMF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Transcavallo (Italy)
– exact race schedule is yet to be determined
March 8-11: Pierra Menta LGC (France)
– 4-day stage race
– Wednesday to Saturday
– total climbing close to 10,000 m
March 24-26: Mondole Ski Alp WC (Italy)
– vertical (day 1)
– individual (day 2)
– sprint (day 3)
April 2: Adamello LGC (Italy)
Most likely courses:
– for men: 4000m ascent, 4380m descent
– for women: 3100m ascent, 4380m descent
April 8-9: Val d’Aran WC (Catalonia, Spain)
– individual (day 1)
– vertical (day 2)
April 16: Easter weekend (no international racing)
April 23: Mezzalama LGC (Italy)
– classic route from Breuil-Cervinia to Gressoney
– alternative dates in case of cancellation are April 29, 30 and May 1

New way of ranking

There will be a World Cup winner which will be, year by year, the best performer in the ISMF World Cup races, according to the three disciplines – individual, vertical and sprint. Furthermore, there will be a World Ranking, rolling up on yearly basis, which will take into account the athletes’ points earned from the ISMF World Cup, the Champs(World and Continental), the LGC and the ISMF series.
“By doingso, we want to stress the importance of all the races, including the ISMF series which will become more appealing also for top level athletes”, says  Marco Mosso, vice president, marketing   & communications.

Trofeo Mezzalama update: Eric Carter's team placed 13th while Italians won

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Here is a quick update I got Eric today after they finished Mezzalama. Photos are coming.
The race went off despite only a 10h weather window between storms which the organizers nailed perfectly. Mezzalama lived up to its reputation of atrocious weather with 80+kph winds in the alpine – difficult to stand/move at times. We skied much of the race in puff jackets and warm-up pants. Sun came out though and the course was run in full.

Pascal with Eric waiting for the start.
Pascal with Eric waiting for the start.
This was hands down the most amazing course I have ever seen! There were fairly serious technical sections all above 3800m with views of the Matterhorn etc…
Team Italy 1 (Matteo Eydallin, Michele Boscacci, Damiano Lenzi) lead from the start with Team Italy 2 (Robert Antonioli, Lorenzo Holzknecht, Manfred Reichegger) pushing close behind until they pulled away for good mid-race. Anton Palzer’s team finished in third only 17sec behind. The Italians seem to have this race dialed in every way possible.
Italians dominated despite being pulled back :)
Italians dominated despite being pulled back 🙂
For women, an international team consisting of Emelie Forsberg (SWE), Axelle Mollaret (FRA), Jennifer Fiechter (SWI) finally beat the always winning duo Laetitia Roux (FRA) and Mireia Miro (SPA) who were joined by Séverine Pont Combe (SWI) which was cool to see. A Spanish team was third but way behind.
» Full results from 2015 Mezzalama

Our race

Pascal Egli (SWI) and I lost Lars Erik (SWE), our original teammate, because of the change of date but took on a young Slovak Peter Volnar. He hammered along without complaint on the ups and led our rope on the descents. We made some minor technical and clothing errors but raced a smooth race overall.

mezzalama-pascal-leading-eric-peter
Pascal leading Eric and Peter high up on the Mezzalama course.
I had a low point on the Castore Ridge but the majority of the race was behind us. We rallied the last descent on fresh power giving way to spring corn and finished 13th – something we were more than satisfied with!
Here is Eric summing up his experienced right after crossing the line:

Now we drive back to Chamonix and pack up and tomorrow morning fly back to Canada! Fucking awesome way to cap a spectacular season. 🙂
Congrats boys! And chapeau to a superb season Eric!
The women's and men's winning teams of the 2015 Mezzalama during the awards in Cervinia.
The women’s and men’s winning teams of the 2015 Mezzalama during the awards in Cervinia.

Catching up with Eric Carter before Trofeo Mezzalama

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Eric and Pascal happy to win a Euro skimo race!
Eric and Pascal happy to win a Euro skimo race! Photo by ISMF.
With Eric spending last couple of months skimo racing in Europe and waiting for the ever postponing Trofeo Mezzalama (newest date is May 2nd) I sent him a few quick questions to catch up.
Coming off a successful Pierra Menta with Nick Elson, he will be partnering for Mezzalama with our Swiss friend Pascal Egli, with the third teammate still to be determined.
Eric and Pascal managed to win a 2-day Ski Ecrins skimo race in France two weekends ago!
Q: After placing 15th at Pierra Menta and winning the Ski Ecrins 2-day teams race how do you feel about Mezzalama? Who are your teammates?
Lars Erik and Pascal were supposed to be the team but due to postponing Lars Erik has to go back to Norway and can’t stay, so if anyone knows of someone looking for a team please let us know!
I think we have a good shot at a decent placing in Mezzalama depending on who jumps in as our third. We were assigned bib #11 which might be a good sign 🙂
Regardless, as long as we don’t have any equipment, illness, or crash issues and just ski smoothly, I’m sure we will be quite happy with our race.
Q: How was your April in Chamonix? What did you get up to?
Since Mezallama got postponed, Lars Erik and I took advantage of the good conditions in Chamonix for a rip up and down Mont Blanc last week. Not particularly fast since it was beautiful and we couldn’t stop taking photos! I felt good at the altitude though and am feeling the most acclimatized of my life!
Since the last World Cup, I’ve been skiing but summer has arrived in full force in Chamonix, so I’ve spent quite a bit more time taking the lift up high and doing some fun and easy alpine climbing which is a nice change.
Eric and Lars Erik atop Mont Blanc.
Eric and Lars Erik atop Mont Blanc.
Q: When are you coming back and what are your summer plans?
I will be getting back right after Mezzalama, and I’m really looking forward to getting back to Squamish to see everyone and jump into BC summer.
I’ve got some running plans and want to do lots of rock climbing but nothing set in stone. For running races, I won’t do an ultra this season but a few others: Sea to Summit race at the S2SG, Kusam Klimb, Broken Goat VK, Survival of the Fittest, Comfortably Numb, Grouse Grind Race, and perhaps some more.

Skimo racing 2012-2013 World Cup and World Championships calendar

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Top level ski mountaineering racing calendar is now out:

  • No team races on the WC calendar, except at the World Champs!
  • The World Cup itself will have 5 rounds – hosted in Italy (2), Switzerland, Andorra, with finals in Norway.
  • The 2013 Ski Mountaineering World Championships will take place between Feb 9-15, 2013 in Pelvoux-Puy, France.
    – likely the same venues as for the Euro Champs in 2012

ISMF World Cup calendar for 2012-2013 season

Jan 12-13, 2013
Vertical + Individual
World Cup Skialp Race Ahrntal (Valle Aurina, Italy)
All categories
www.skialprace-ahrntal.com
Jan 25-26, 2013
Sprint + Individual
World Cup Alpiniski (Les Marécottes-Salvan, Switzerland)
All categories
www.alpiniski.ch
Feb 9-15, 2013
Team + Relays + Sprint + Vertical + Individual
World Championships (Pelvoux-Puy Saint Vincent-Vallouise, France)
All categories
www.ski-ecrins.com
Mar 02-03, 2013
Sprint + Individual
World Cup Skialp3 Presolana (Clusone, Italy)
All categories
www.sciclub13.it
Mar 09-10, 2013
Vertical + Individual
World Cup Font Blanca (Ordino, Andorra)
All categories
www.fontblanca.ad
Apr 13-14, 2013
Sprint + Individual
World Cup Artic Race (Tromso, Norway)
Only senior and espoir
www.arcticrace.no

Other big ski mountaineering races in 2013

Pierra Menta, France – Mar 21-24, 2013 (www.pierramenta.com)
– 4 day stage race [teams of 2] Trofeo Mezzalama, Italy – April 2013 (www.trofeomezzalama.org)
– 1 day high altitude, long distance race [teams of 3] Adamello Ski Raid, Italy – April 2013 (www.adamelloskiraid.com)
– 1 day high altitude, long distance race [teams of 2] Tour du Rutor, Italy – not in 2013! but will be back on Mar 28-30, 2014 (tourdurutor.com)
– 3 day stage race [teams of 2] Patrouille des Glaciers, Switzerland – not in 2013 as it historically rotates with Mezzalama, should be back for 2014 (www.pdg.ch)
– 1 day high altitude, long distance race [teams of 3]