Pizolada 2013, the race

On 14th April 2013 a beautiful spring day, surrounded by the white snow covered Dolomite peaks of Val di Fassa, the 37th edition of the ski mountaineering race “Pizolada delle dolomiti” took place.

The 400 participants, grouped in 3 different categories, kicked off at 8:15 by the base station of Col Margherita cable car: among them was even a group of athletes from Catalunia Spain.

We challenged ourselves in the non-professional athletes category. Featuring a 1045m climb split in two uphill sections it is still not a challenge to be taken lightly. Setting our goals high for this year, we really just aimed to complete the race in one piece. At least this way we would not feel too bad if we finished last and it sets the challenge for next year!

Once the race started we quickly realised that we had no chance of finishing in the top… …20. They all took off the start line like a herd of dears chased by hungry wolves!

Giving up on that idea we set off at a decent pace, using others in our category as pace setters. The long and twisted first section, just over 4km long, took us from 1878m above sea level on a 650m uphill climb.

Our strategy quickly proved wrong:  following other more experienced racers sounds like a good idea in theory, using their experience to set our pace. We found out the hard way this only works if have very similar pace, otherwise it is a struggle all the way.

Strategy number two: do not look ahead, just concentrate on your own performance. At this point we were half way up the mountain tired and still had not found our own rhythm yet: time for a drink! It is amazing what those energy drinks can do for you, they really do work wonders!

At the summit we were welcomed by a wide choice of food and drinks all served by very friendly support staff. Shame we did not stop long enough to enjoy the view from up there, luckily the GoPro was recording ;-)

Time to take the skin off the skies, lock the boots, wind-proof jacket on, and off we went downhill like the wind. It is amazing how quickly you cover the ground that made you sweat so much uphill! The reward is always worth it.

In less than 5 minutes we arrived at the start of the second and final uphill section, another 395m climb. Second time lucky full of fresh energy, with the chocolate and warm tea in the blood stream, we set off on our final ascent. As we did that, we spotted the first professionals skiing down their third and final descent of the day, amazing!!

Back to the real world: 44 minutes of steady climbing took us to the second and last summit of the day. By this time the sun was high up in a beautiful blue spring sky. Very tempting to spend the rest of the day sunbathing up there…

From that point, the rest is history: descent down the black run to the finish line where we were greeted by friends and family and more importantly by a big cold drink!

Summary for the day: the winner of the first category completed the race (16.42km, 1725m climb) in just over 1hr30. In the non-professional group, the best time was 1hr15…

…we did it in over two, 2hrs30 to be precise! But we did it and have our time to beat for next year.

What more to say: it has been a great experience, fantastic atmosphere, excellent organization. We will certainly to it again next year!

One last thing: team Sky Bradley Wiggins, winner of last year’s Tour de France, showed up too! He is in the area training for the tour of Italy and decided to stop by for a break. Shame we did not manage to take any photos with him! Anyway, good luck to Bradley for this coming May.

Areal view of the race course

Altitude profile

 

Pizolada Delle Dolomiti 2013

Sunday the 14th April 2013.

The 37th edition of the Pizolada Delle Dolomiti, a classic Italian ski mountaineering event is taking place on the snowy peaks of the Val di Fassa and San Pellegrino pass.

The race will feature two categories: 

• the first one at 16.42km long and with 1725m climbing, qualifies as an International test for the world cup “Certified Race ISMF” (Italian National Mountaineer Skiing team will also be participating)
• the second one at 12.4km long and with 1045m climb is aimed at hobbyists and non-professional participants but is a good challenge for all.

The start is scheduled for 8:15am, and the weather forecast for Sunday is set for sunny with perfect snow conditions.

The main sponsors for this year's edition are Scarpa, a leading brand in mountaineering equipment and foot-wear.

In our debut year on this exhilarating sport, we decided to take part in the event too!!

We'll post a full race review and hopefully some footage for you all to enjoy as well as some footage from the last couple of months preparation. 

It should be good fun... 

New home of fassadventures.com

Here it is: refreshed website, new look, more links and a lot more interactive. Let us know what you think of it!

http://www.fassadventures.com/index.php

First snow of the season

Yesterday's rain during the night turned into snow, and this is the result: 10cm of beautiful fresh white coat! Let's hope it is a good start to the 2012/13 winter season!

Men European Cup, slalom, Pozza di Fassa.

Stefano Gross, local skiing hero, misses the podium position by only 0.07 of a second during yesterday's night slalom race on the Aloch.

Photos

Skiing!

First day on the slopes: a bit of a strange scenery but lovely snow! :-))

Festival of St. Nicolo'

One of the major events in town is back: St Nicolo', Patron Saint of Pozza, personally visited us once more in the village with some nasty "devils" (called Krampus) following him. He brought gifts of fruit and chocolate to all the children of Pozza, who had gathered in town to celebrate him after having lunch and Mass together. 
The Krampus were really scary and…very smelly too. Also many adults are frightened of them, as they play nasty tricks on anyone they come across!!


web album

7th Dec - skiing season kicks off

Natural snow or not, the skiing season will start Wednesday the 7th December! Time to check that all the gear is in order.
:-)

No snow forecast for the coming week.

Thankfully the cold temperature allows artificial one to be made!!
Fingers crossed for the proper one.

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Good morning to you all!

Another beautiful sunny day in the Dolomites! 
Would be perfect for nice long walk...

2011/12 Skiing season

It is official, the 2011/12 skiing season starts on the 3rd of December!
Are you ready for it?

Last few days of "summer"

Following a snowy saturday night,
what a beautiful day sunday turned out to be!
Ideal opportunity for a "summer" excursion...

29th May 2011 - 5th Edition of the Marcialonga Cycling

On a clear and sunny spring morning, mountaintops still covered with snow, the 5th edition of the MARCIALONGA CYCLING and its 2100 competitors started off from Predazzo. 
Both the 135km and the 80km variants saw the cyclists racing their way to the finishing line on the roads and passes of 4 valleys. 
In a record time of 4h05’29” Italy’s Fabrizio Lucciola won by only 3” over Lithuanian Kairelis Dainius. 
Among the 2100 competitors, there was also Cristian Zorzi, 2006 cross-country skiing Olympic champion.

Link to photos

22 MAY 2011: GIRO D'ITALIA 2011

and so it happened! 
Just after 5pm, having completed 230km on the road and more than 5000m ascent, the 15th leg of the 94th edition of the tour of Italy crossed the finishing line in GARDECCIA, in the middle of the Catinaccio massif in Val di Fassa. 
Since early Sunday morning there had been a steady build-up of people walking up the 6 km track from Pozza to Gardeccia; the local Rifugi had put out large BBQs and spit roasts, and some mouthwatering hog-roasts had been slowly sizzling since the early morning!
Draught beer and traditional music completed the scene, people spread out on the grass and had a good time enjoying the sunny day. 
Later on in the early afternoon, as you can expect in the mountains,  the weather changed and the rain came in! Not a problem if you are prepared, so always remember to have a waterproof layer with you when you're out and about up here!
Thankfully it was all over by the time the cyclists arrived, with Nieve winning the stage and Garzelli giving a great performance…..
This very tough stage was a display of pure stamina: 4 passes, over 7 hours of riding and a 16% gradient just before the finishing line! What a performance, what a super day!!

Link to photos

GIRO D'ITALIA 2011

On Sunday 22nd May 2011, stage 15 of the Tour of Italy: Conegliano Veneto to Rifugio Gardeccia (Pozza di Fassa) After 35 years the "Giro d'Italia" is coming back to Gardeccia! 
Pozza is buzzing with preparations, and getting ready to welcome an expected 70-100.000 fans! 
The cyclists will race along 230km of mountain roads, take on 4 passes with arrival right in the centre of the Catinaccio Massif (1950m) which overlooks Pozza from the North.
The arrival is in a magnificent setting (see picture), which is reached from Pozza via chiarlift, cable car and a shuttle service. These will start at 3am to allow the visitors a timely ascent.
So exciting!! More to come!

Waiting for the Sellaronda Ski Marathon 2011.....

This breathtaking 42km ski-mountaineering nocturnal marathon run in pairs, around the Sella massif will take place on the 18th February, taking on 4 passes for 2,700m ascent. Approximately 400 pairs of "crazy guys and girls" have had to be drawn out of the total of applications which greatly exceeded the maximum number allowed.
Start is at 18.00hrs at Selva di Val Gardena, and finish is expected at around 21.30hrs where they started.
I don't know how they do it, but will be there to take pics!

MARCIALONGA 2011

Here it is, the biggest event of the year! The Marcialonga cross country skiing event!
On the 30th January over 6,500 athletes started from Moena, approx 10Km from Pozza, and raced up to Pozza and further on to Canazei before turning back down to Pozza and over to Moena and then Cavalese, for a grand total of 70Km.
5,501 were men and 1,075 women.
No surprise the Swedish and the Norwegians dominated the event, but with a few exceptions:
Jerry Ahrlin (SWE) took gold medal for the men's race in 2h49'10'' and Seraina Boner (SUI) for the women's in 3h15'07". 
The youngest competitor was from Norway (born 1993) and the oldest was from Italy (born 1923)!
A few of these "heroes" wear a special T-shirt to signify they have run ALL the consecutive 38 marathons!! Incredible!!
Well done to you all guys, you really are to be admired!

King Laurin's legend

So here is the huge sculpture in the main square in Pozza: King Laurin and his daughter Similde. Theirs is the most popular legend of the Valley, which tells about the history of the Dolomites and the origins of the phenomenon known as "Enrosadira". You will find many references to King Laurin in places across the Valley.

Happy New Year Everybody!

Be good to us 2011, you're promising well by starting with such a magnificent day! The sky is blue and the sun is shining. 
Best wishes to all!