@The presentation of the World Cup's third leg

Presentation of the Pitturina Ski Race, the World Cup's third leg. At the end of the month in Val Comelico and Sappada the elite of the ski-mountaineering world will be on the slope. A “kilometre zero" spectacle. Yesterday evening, in the Sala della Regola in Candide di Comelico Superiore, in the province of Bolzano, the sixth edition of the Pitturina Ski Race was presented. A world edition, given that the races to be held on Val Comelico and Sappada snow will qualify as the third trial on the Scarpa ISMF World Cup circuit.

The programme of the competition will open on Friday, 31 January in Sappada with the Sprint trial. The next day, Saturday, 1 February the athletes will rest, but for the whole Val Comelico it will be a holiday with side events and the "Parade of Nations". On Sunday morning the Pitturina Ski Race will be staged on the classic route with a gradient of 1,900 meters over four slopes.

The mayor of Comelico Superiore Mario Zandonella Necca played host by stressing the importance of the international event for the whole Val Comelico area. The mayor of Sappada Alberto Graz confirmed that the decision to support and assist the organization of the Sprint trial had been taken quickly, "we liked the project immediately" said Graz, "Sappada, which has been interested in sports tourism for years, willingly accepted the World Cup trials."

Dario Bond, regional councillor and friend of the Pitturina Ski Race has taken an active part in relations with the Veneto Region, "I have been involved in all the editions," said Bond, "and I will also be present at this World Cup trial. For the Veneto the Pitturina Ski Race represents excellence both in terms of organization and in terms of promotion of the area. In the last few days, at the end of 2013, the Veneto Region confirmed important financing for the Pitturina, showing how much the Region believes in this event. In addition, it was been verified that if €100,000 is spent on this type of event the promotional gain is almost ten times higher".

Rebecca Vernon vice-president of ISMF, the international federation that oversees competitive ski-mountaineering, was also present in Val Comelico Superiore, "When we received the nomination for the Pitturina," said Vernon, "we had no doubts about holding the World Cup trial; Val Comelico and Sappada have become part of a calendar of events with important names on the alpine scene such as Verbier and Courchevel".

Roberto Bortoluzzi, president of the FISI Veneto Committee confirmed once again the exponential growth in the number of people participating in ski-mountaineering, "It is thanks to events such as the Pitturina," said Bortoluzzi, "that ski-mountaineering will grow and have greater visibility".

"This area needs these events," said Marco Zambelli Mariani, president of the Regola di Candide, in his speech. "The Pitturina Ski Race will be an important showcase for us to make our culture and our traditions known on an international level".
Michele Festini and Marco De Lorenzo illustrated the technical aspects of the trials. Festini also presented the "kilometre zero" race pack and invited all the participants to be present at Cima Vallona for the promotion of the event of the Pitturina Ski Race, "I was at kilometre zero". De Lorenzo, technical director of the race, at the end of his speech thanked the dozens of volunteers who in the next few days will begin to prepare the track of the race.

At the end of the presentation Oscar Angeloni, the technical director of the national ski-mountaineering team was called upon. "We know these places very well," said Angeloni, "in a few weeks we will all be there. We can only promise to do our best; to win some medals here would have a special meaning".