The Mezzalama Skyrace was an international high altitude endurance race competition, defunct in 2008, [1] in upper Valtournenche Valley, in the Aosta Valley, Italy. The summer event in the Monte Rosa's massif has been carried out annually by the Mezzalama Trophy association since 2000, and was also named in honor of the mountain guide Ottorino Mezzalama.
The starting point is in Saint-Jacques (1,680 metres a.s.l.), a hamlet in Ayas. The participants pass Verraz (2,380 metres a.s.l.), Saint-Oyen, and then the Blue Lake (French : Lac Bleu), then they take back the main track and meet to the moraine of the Grand Glacier of Verraz (French : Grand glacier de Verraz, Italian : Grande Ghiacciaio di Verra) to reach the Refuge Ottorino Mezzalama, which is the turning point of the circuit. Total course length is 15 kilometres with a 1,356 metre altitude difference, to be finished in a maximum time of 4 hours.
Year | Men's winner | Women's winner |
---|---|---|
2000 | Bruno Brunod | Gloriana Pellissier |
2001 | Bruno Brunod | Gloriana Pellissier |
2002 | Manfred Reichegger | Gloriana Pellissier |
2003 | Davide Bonansea | Emanuela Brizio |
2004 | Dennis Brunod | Gloriana Pellissier |
2005 | Paolo Bert | Gloriana Pellissier |
2006 | Dennis Brunod | Gloriana Pellissier |
2007 | Dennis Brunod | Gloriana Pellissier |
2008 | Dennis Brunod | Gloriana Pellissier |
2009 | not held | |
2010 |
Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, and the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, rising 4,805.59 m (15,766 ft) above sea level, located on the Franco-Italian border. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and the 11th most prominent mountain in the world.
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The Rhône is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Arles, near its mouth, the river divides into the Great Rhône and the Little Rhône. The resulting delta forms the Camargue region.
Monte Rosa is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, on the border between Italy and Switzerland (Valais). The highest peak of the massif, amongst several peaks of over 4,000 m (13,000 ft), is the Dufourspitze, the second highest mountain in the Alps and western Europe, after Mont Blanc. The east face of the Monte Rosa towards Italy has a height of about 2,400 metres (7,900 ft) and is the highest mountain wall of the Alps.
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The Mont Blanc massif is a mountain range in the Alps, located mostly in France and Italy, but also straddling Switzerland at its northeastern end. It contains eleven major independent summits, each over 4,000 metres (13,123 ft) in height. It is named after Mont Blanc, the highest point in western Europe and the European Union. Because of its considerable overall altitude, a large proportion of the massif is covered by glaciers, which include the Mer de Glace and the Miage Glacier – the longest glaciers in France and Italy, respectively.
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Ottorino Mezzalama 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 Rochemolles Valley. The Ottorino Mezzalama Hut of the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) below Pollux as well as the famous Mezzalama Trophy competition and the Mezzalama Skyrace were named in honor of him.
The Mezzalama Trophy is an Italian high altitude ski mountaineering competition in upper Valtournenche and Ayas valleys, in Aosta Valley.
Ottorino is an Italian male given name. It may refer to:
Refuge Ottorino Mezzalama is a refuge in the Alps in Aosta Valley, Italy.
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The Tête Rousse Glacier is a small but significant glacier located in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps whose collapse in 1892 killed 200 people in the town of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains.
The Miage Glacier is a debris-covered glacier in the upper Aosta Valley, in northwestern Italy.
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