Marcello Ugazio’s record from Genoa to Monte Rosa – Corriere.it
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The blue of the sea of Genoa, the blue of the sky above Monte Rosa. The titanic undertaking completed by Marcello Ugazio lies within these two shades of beauty, a triathlete from Novara who is the fastest man of all time on the journey that leads from zero sea level to one of the most wonderful peaks in the Alps. «When I arrived at Capanna Margherita I started crying. Incredible”. These are his words a few hours after the feat: 242 kilometers and 5,500 meters in altitude first on the bike and then in ski mountaineering gear. Ugazio stopped the clock at 12 hours, 19 minutes and 36 secondstwo hours and twelve minutes less than the previous record (Nico Valsesia in 2018 had taken 14 hours and 31 minutes).
An enterprise of this kind was born a long time ago, born from the hunger for effort and success of an athlete who switched from the bike to mountain running, and is now specializing in verticals for the Scarpa team. At heart, however, he has an obsession with adventures and the search for gods Fastest known time (Fkt) on the paths he loves. In August 2021 she had already challenged Monte Rosa: first by bike and then by foot. On that occasion he had stopped the clock at 11 hours and 48 minutes, beating the time of Francesco Surace (13 hours and 34′), who a few months earlier (in June) had snatched the record which up to that moment had belonged to Nico Valsesia (14 hours and 18′).
It wasn’t enough for him, and he tried his hand at the “winter” version of the climb: after the bike, he put on his skis and only took them off in the last part of the climb, the last fifty meters in altitude, where the ice forced crampons. But before reaching the last glorious meters Ugazio had to fight for hours. «I left at one in the morning from Voltri beach in Genoa, zero meters above sea level, and then I cycled for about seven hours – he says -. We were hoping for better weather, but it was cold, foggy and damp.” The first segment of his effort ended in Orsia, at the foot of Monte Rosa, after 226 kilometers and 2,700 meters of elevation gain covered in around seven hours. “I rested for about twenty minutes, ate something and changed clothes. I thought I was even more tired, but the change in set-up gave me unexpected energy».
2,800 meters of altitude difference spread over 16 kilometers awaited him. «I put my skis on and started the climb, even if I have to say it wasn’t easy, there were times when I thought I couldn’t do it». The rosary to heaven had stations known to hikers, which take up to two days for this journey. The track that the athletes follow during the Mezzalama, the trunk that leads to Passo dei Salati (Lake Gabiet), the Orestes Hütte refuge, the Grand Canal and the Mantova refuge.
Unfortunately, however, at that point the sun disappeared. Poor visibility to illuminate the climb, only fog towards the peaks of Monte Rosa. «There were a thousand meters in altitude, I was afraid that my adventure would end – Marcello continues -. Cold, difficult and frozen terrain. In the last stretch one of the two guides who followed me was unable to climb, he didn’t have ice crampons. It was exhausting but in the end Capanna Margherita appeared. I had to make a video, I had to tell my feat. I forgot everything, I was just crying with joy».
The rest is the story of a composed descent, of the search for rest and then, after waking up, of the thousand messages of compliments from friends and colleagues. Now perhaps Marcello will stop. «Impossible – he laughs -. Meanwhile there’s a vertical season, I want to bring home some good results. And I already have a new goal in mind, a new Fkt. I’m just saying that this time I’m targeting Mont Blanc. And I’m crossing my fingers, it’s going to be very hard.”
April 21, 2023 (change April 21, 2023 | 5:37 pm)
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