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The 24th edition of the Mezzalama Trophy was presented in Aosta. At the Megalithic Area, Adriano Favre announced the new formula: teams will be composed of two elements.
On 26 April, the ISMF Long Distance World Championship will be awarded and it will be the final of La Grande Course.
A project for athletes with disabilities will be launched with a demo race in 2025.
Hosts of the Megalithic Area, the Mezzalama Trophy Foundation has presented the "Marathon of the Glaciers" scheduled Saturday 26 April 2025, with Sunday 27 April as a make-up day in case of bad weather. The XXIV edition of the Mezzalama Trophy will be the single round of the ISMF Long Distance World Championship and the final of La Grande Course, the circuit of the most exclusive ski mountaineering races in the Alps and the Cordillera Pirenaica.
The presentation opened with news that was already in the air in competitive ski mountaineering circles: technical director and mountain guide Adriano Favre confirmed that the next Mezzalama Trophy will be run with two-person teams, changing the historical formula that for 90 years has envisaged three-person teams.
"Until now, we have respected the traditional formation of three-person teams," said Favre, "both in homage to the military patrol races from which ski mountaineering originated, and because it was easier with three to rescue a comrade who had fallen into a crevasse. But in modern races we have remained a glorious exception. Now the time has also come for Mezzalama to adopt ropes of two ski mountaineers. The changing conditions in the high mountains are forcing us to do so: the conspicuous retreat of the glaciers, the increasingly scarce snow seasons, the increasing presence of live ice on the slopes and ridges. In these conditions, the two-person rope team is more agile and efficient, both in rope manoeuvres and in glacier-bound descents. In essence, we want to ensure greater safety."
In addition to Adriano Favre, there were François Cazzanelli and Emrik Favre, young mountain guides who recently joined the Mezzalama technical staff. The two actively collaborated with the Technical Director in the evaluation of this important decision. With a CV that distinguishes them both as mountaineers and ski mountaineers, and with first-hand experience of the 'Glacier Marathon' as athletes, Cazzanelli and Favre were able to combine safety requirements with a drive for innovation.
At the end of this first technical phase, it was also announced that on 26 April the ISMF Long Distance Ski Mountaineering World Championship titles will be awarded, an event that adds further prestige to the competition.
The presentation continued with a speech by Alex Brunod, President of the Mezzalama Trophy Foundation. "The Glacier Marathon," announced Brunod, "has always followed two cornerstones: keeping up with the times and safeguarding the safety of both the athletes and all those involved along the route. With this vision comes the need to increase the number of team members to two to further increase the level of safety during the competition. In addition, we are thrilled to be able to welcome athletes with disabilities to our glaciers. The resilience they show is extraordinary'.
"Finally, I would like to thank - concluded the President - all the organisations that support the Foundation and the Aosta Valley Region, which has always been at our side on this journey'.
Bringing greetings from the Aosta Valley Region was Regional Councillor Giulio Grosjacques: 'The Trophy is both history and sporting culture at the same time,' began the Councillor. Ever since it was conceived in 1933, in memory of the founder of ski mountaineering, Ottorino Mezzalama, the competition has been able to valorise the work of the high mountain guides and the athletic gestures of the competitors, first pioneers and adventurers of the mountains, then modern ski mountaineers. Without the guides, the Trophy could not exist: their painstaking work in preparing the route, at the edge of the sky above 4000 metres, allows the competitors to compete in complete safety. It is an example of solidarity that represents the values of the people of Valle d'Aosta: in the mountains, people help each other and work together. Participating in the Trophy, as competitors or spectators, means getting to know a part of the Aosta Valley and those who live there and value it".
One of the novelties announced by Christian Zanolli, mountain guide and member of Fondation Pro Montagna, is the birth of an inclusive project. In 2025, some athletes with disabilities will participate along part of the Mezzalama Trophy route in a demonstration race, and then in an official competition in 2027.
"It is a wide-ranging project," explained Zanolli. "Together with the Mezzalama Trophy Foundation, Sportfund Fondazione Italiana per lo sport and the Mazzola Foundation, we are working to have differently-abled people compete along the route of the Glacier Marathon. Next April we will invite some athletes to a demo race to study together the details and feasibility of an official competition in 2027. The project, spread over three years, also includes summer camps and training days, culminating in the 2027 edition of the Mezzalama Trophy'.
On the subject of inclusiveness, Councillor Grosjacques spoke again: 'Valle d'Aosta is an inclusive region. The 'Ski for all abilities' project has already entered the implementation phase and aims to make the territory accessible to people with motor, sensory and/or intellectual disabilities, offering more opportunities for sport and recreation, even in winter. The Associazione Valdostana Maestri di Sci and the Unione Valdostana Guide di Alta Montagna are involved in the use of facilitators to enable days on the ski slopes and in climbing gyms. This experience has shown that collaboration between public and private bodies and associations is essential to achieve tangible results. On the strength of this success, we are ready to launch a new project combining culture, hospitality and sport, for inclusive Alpine tourism. The initiatives include the accessibility of cultural sites and castles in Valle d'Aosta, Skyway Mont Blanc (the highest accessible point in Italy), an ethical hotel and a karting track. In addition, the Valle d'Aosta railway system, once the work is completed, will allow all stations to be accessible for the first time in Italy. Lastly, the presentation of the In3Vie project, promoted by our Department together with Piedmont and the Valais Canton in Switzerland to develop a cross-border network of accessible and welcoming tourist destinations for people with disabilities, has just taken place".
The presentation of the XXIV edition concluded with the speech by Assessor Luigi Bertschy, Vice-President of the Region and Councillor for Economic Development, Training and Labour, Transport and Sustainable Mobility. The Councillor officially donated the New Trophies linked to the prestigious "Glacier Marathon" to the Foundation. Starting in 2025, for the first time in the history of the Mezzalama, a trophy dedicated to the women's team has also been created. The trophies, which will be awarded to the team that wins the competition for three editions, including non-consecutive editions, were created as part of the exhibition-competition preceding the Foire d'été 2024.
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