Ottorino Mezzalama (born 25 September 1888 – 23 February 1931
/ref>) was an Italian

mountain climber Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

, and is deemed to be one of the two pioneers of Italian

ski mountaineering Ski mountaineering (abbreviated to skimo) is a skiing discipline that involves climbing mountains either on skis or carrying them, depending on the steepness of the ascent, and then descending on skis. There are two major categories of equipment ...

besides Luciano Roiti. He died in an avalanche accident in the Rochemolles Valley. The ''Ottorino Mezzalama'' Hut of the

Club Alpino Italiano The Club Alpino Italiano is the senior Italian alpine club which stages climbing competitions, operates alpine huts, marks and maintains paths, and is active in protecting the Alpine environment. It was founded in Turin in 1863 by the then fin ...

(CAI) below Pollux as well as the famous

Mezzalama Trophy The Mezzalama Trophy (, , a.k.a. ''white marathon''Mezzalama Skyrace The Mezzalama Skyrace was an international high altitude endurance race competition, defunct in 2008, 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 Mezza ...

were named in honor of him.

Life

Mezzalama was born in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and moved with his family to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

on 28 March 1892. In his teens he gained first experiences in mountain climbing. He was a good friend of the Swiss engineer

Adolfo Kind Adolf respectively Adolfo Kind (16 September 1848 in Chur – 5 September 1907) was a Swiss chemical engineer and one of the fathers of Italy, Italian skiing. Life Kind was born in 1848 to a German-speaking Walser people, Walser family, which ...

and of the artillery Lieutenant Luciano Roiti, who published "Delle marce sulla neve" (Italian for ''about marching on snow''), a paper about ski mountaineering in the army. All three became members of the CAI and founded the

Ski Club Torino Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins can ...

. After he finished school, Mezzalama began his studies at the university faculty of trading and economy, but had to leave the university because he was drafted by the army in 1909. In the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

he was deployed in the rank of a Sergente at the

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

n front in 1912, and was awarded for his service. After his release in 1913, he continued his university studies as well as skiing and mountain climbing.Giuseppe Martelli
''Il rifugio "Ottorino Mezzalama" - chi era Ottorino Mezzalama?''
(Italian), November 1, 2005.

World War I

In the course of the general Italian mobilization during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was drafted again by the army in October 1915. Together with his later friend Pietro Ghiglione, a mountain climber and writer, he served in the

3rd Alpini Regiment The 3rd Alpini Regiment () is a mountain warfare regiment of the Italian Army based in Pinerolo in Piedmont. The regiment belongs to the Italian Army's Alpini infantry speciality and is assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense". On 1 November 1 ...

. Concerning to his advanced academic studies, he was made Sottotenente, became Tenente in 1916 and Capitano in 1917. During his services he was technical director of military ski training. He gave his first course at the

Little St Bernard Pass The Little St Bernard Pass (French: ''Col du Petit Saint-Bernard'', Italian: ''Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo'') is a mountain pass in the Alps on the France–Italy border. Its saddle is at 2188 metres above sea level. It is located between Sa ...

, the second in the Champorcher Valley, and further ones in several alpine areas apart the conflict areas. All in all he trained about 3,000 "White Warriors from the

Adamello Adamello (in local dialect ''Adamèl'') is a mountain in Lombardy, Italy. With an elevation of , it is the second highest peak of the Adamello-Presanella Alps. It is located in Valcamonica, Lombardy (Province of Brescia). Its glacier, measured ...

" of 26 skiing units of 13 battalions until 1917, the year when the 3rd Alpini Regiment got the name affix "

Courmayeur Courmayeur (; ; Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in northern Italy, in the autonomous region of Aosta Valley. History The toponym ''Courmayeur'' has been mentioned as ''Curia majori'' (1233–1381), ''Corte Maggiore'' (1620), ''Cormoyeu'' (1 ...

" It is reported that Mezzalama always wore a big 15–25 kg rucksack on his ski tours, that he never left to anybody. In care of possible surprises in the mountains, it contained all essentially things. Mezzalama commented, that the only thing, that would be really planable was the start of a ski tour, never the return.

Postwar period

After the war he, returned to the university and lived together with his mother. Additionally he explored the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

on ski and amongst others, he took part in the first Italian complete

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

ski-run in 1927. Mezzolama was one of the volunteers, who took part in a search and rescue action, after an avalanche descended in the Rochemolles Valley upside the

Bardonecchia Bardonecchia (; ; , ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' located in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Piedmont region, in the western part of Susa Valley. It grew out of a small village with the works for the Fréjus Rail Tunnel, the first c ...

in 1931. 20

Alpini The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operati ...

s of the 3rd Regiment were missed. Mezzalama and Domenico Mazzocchi were overtaken by a thunderstorm on the peak of the Bicchiere, and were urged to stay in the frosty "Elena" Hut (today: ''"Rifugio Gino Biasi"'') for three days. They were both worn out, when they descended on the fourth day, and when an avalanche caught Mezzalama and carried him downhill. Mazzocchi tried to find him till the darkness rose, but his attempts were in vain. On the next day, his corpse was found by a team of the CAI

Bolzano Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The ...

section.''History and legend of the highest altitude alpine skiing in the world''
Trofeo Mezzalama website.

Literature

* Umberto Pelazza, Antonio Vizzi: ''Mezzalama Trophy - Myth and Reality 1933–1997.''

Life

World War I

Postwar period

Literature

References

See also