The legends of guest skiing in Valtournenche
The legends of guest skiing in Valtournenche
Between October and November, the “Gran Becca” slope starting at the Rollin Hump in Switzerland and finishing above Cervinia at the Cime Bianche Lakes in Italy will host the Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening, the first four cross-border races (two men’s and two women’s) in the history of the Ski World Cup. To celebrate this important event, which will bring great skiing back to the Aosta Valley, Matterhorn CineMountain will devote a day, Monday, Aug. 8, to the legends of the sport and to recounting the emotions of the protagonists as the most anticipated event of the season approaches.
At 6 p.m., the historic Piazzetta delle Guide will be the setting for “We Are The Champions,” the presentation of this extraordinary joint event, which involves politics, economics and society of the respective regions in a momentous challenge for the tourism development of the entire area. Taking the stage to tell the behind-the-scenes story, the expectations and the importance for the area will be the event’s Ambassador, Champion Pirmin Zurbriggen, the President of the Organizing Committee and Zermatt Bergbahnen Franz Julen, Aosta Valley Region Councillors Jean Pierre Guichardaz (Cultural Heritage, Tourism, Sport and Trade of the Aosta Valley Region) and Luigi Bertschy (Economic Development, Training and Labor), Herbert Tovagliari (Spa Cervino), Chantal Vuillermoz (Sports and Mountain Councillor Municipality of Valtournenche) and Marco Mosso (FISI-Avisa Valle d’Aosta), and Franz Julen. With them also Piero Gros, “Pierino” one of the great protagonists of the Italian avalanche, winner of the 1974 World Cup and gold medal in the special slalom at the XII Olympic Winter Games in Innsbruck 1976.
Next, at 9 p.m. at the Valtournenche Convention Center, “Downhill,” a special evening with Peter Fill and Gerald Salmina, the director of Streif – A Special Downhill, a special screening for the Festival. Tennis has Wimbledon. Soccer Wembley and rugby the Millennium in Cardiff. Skiing, while waiting to discover and be enthralled by the Grand Becca in Cervinia-Zermatt (making its World Cup debut in late October and early November with the Speed Opening and no less than four downhill runs, two men’s and two women’s) has its temple in Austria, called Streif. It is the icy, dangerous and fascinating gut of KitzbuÌhel where the myth of the world’s most famous downhill is repeated every year for the World Cup. In the Mausefalle one jumps for 40 meters having 45 of void below, then there is the infamous little road (only 5 meters wide!) and the exhausting Diagonal that precedes the last schuss. Whoever wins enters the myth of the sport, a cabin in the ski lift is also dedicated to him, and his status from that day on will be comparable to that of a member of a royal family in Austria. ItÌ happened to Peter Fill in 2016 (as well as to Pirmin Zurbriggen, six times). Together with him, from the Streif to the Grand Becca the evening will take the audience into the legend of great skiing, discovering its protagonists, secrets and feats.
