Mezzalama Trophy 2023, all is set for tomorrow's XXIII edition

At 5 a.m on Saturday 23 April 2023, the XXIII Mezzalama Trophy race will start off from Breuil-Cervinia. Adriano Favre: "The course is all ready and has been clearly marked". At 8.30 a.m., the Mezzalama Jeunes race will start off from Gabiet (Gressoney La-Trinité). The Mezzalama Trophy will also decree the winners of the La Grande Course circuit. Live streaming from 8.15 a.m. is confirmed. Discounted ski-lift tickets available.

The legendary Mezzalama Trophy is about to celebrate its 23rd edition: on Saturday morning at 5.30am, 208 team of three will set off from Breuil-Cervinia. The finish line of the "Glacier Marathon" will be at Gressoney-La-Trinité and, in order to reach this, competitors will have to cover a 45-kilometer route with a total elevation gain of 3272 meters, and tackle three four thousanders: Castor (4126m), Naso dei Lyskamm and Roccia della Scoperta, Entdeckungsfels (4177m).

Adriano Favre and the mountain guides responsible for preparing the race course have worked immensely hard over the last few days. "The course is ready – explained the technical director – and today we managed to prepare all the most difficult parts. The 20 cm of snow we had the other day helped enormously to give the glacier a more wintry appearance. Between Thursday and Friday, we expect more snow and we are therefore confident that the original course won’t need to be altered. So we are able to confirm that the traditional route that goes up to the Quintino Sella Hut will be followed. Preparing and securing the trail was a huge and extremely demanding job, but the guides engaged in doing it are tough and tenacious and have given us a really excellent race course. My advice to competitors is that they observe all the rules ‘of engagement’ that are communicated during the briefing and applied throughout the race. Conditions at high altitude are precarious and it is essential that that they strictly adhere to all the instructions they’ve been given in order to ensure that the event takes place in total safety".

The Mezzalama Jeunes race, reserved for the U16, U18 and U20 youth categories, will start off at 8.30 a.m. in the Gabiet area. The race will follow a route designed by mountain guides François Cazzanelli and Emirk Favre that will take competitors up to the Orestes Hütte refuge, the Colle della Salza and the Canalino dell’Aquila-Eagle Couloir. The finish line will be right under the Mezzalama trophy banner in Gressoney La Trinité: a chance for future skimo champions to experience the thrill of crossing the finish line like a real ‘mezzalamista’.

The Mezzalama Trophy will also assign the final points that decree the 2022-2023 standings of the prestigious La Grande Course circuit in both the men’s and women’s categories. Leading the provisional results by 732 points is an athlete from the Italian Army Sports Center, Matteo Eydallin. Behind him, both with 686 points, are Martin Stofner and Filippo Beccari. In the women’s category, the French champion Axelle Gachet Mollaret shares first place with her compatriot Emily Harrop with 600 points. The Italian athlete, Ilaria Veronese, currently trails third with 534 points.

For this edition the Mezzalama Trophy Foundation has once again made every effort to ensure that all skimo enthusiasts who are unable to follow the race on Saturday morning in loco can enjoy the show on the Monte Rosa glaciers in live streaming. This will begin at 8.15 a.m. and can be viewed on the Mezzalama Trophy social media platforms and on www.trofeomezzalama.it, as well as on planetmountain.com

For those lucky enough to be able to enjoy the excitement of the Mezzalama first-hand, the Breuil-Cervinia/Plateau Rosa lift systems will open from 5.00 to 8.00am. The Gabiet/Passo dei Salati/Punta Indren lift systems will open at 6.30am. Tickets for using the systems will cost €10.