The Marcialonga makes 50 with one more difficulty: arrival on the Muro della Strega

Climate change has put a strain on the organizers of the fiftieth edition of the Marcialonga, which kicks off on Sunday 29 January. “Throughout the first half of January we had spring-like temperatures that prevented us from shooting the artificial snow and melted the one we had already prepared,” he recalls Bepi Brigadoithe technician who designed the 70-kilometre route of the Gran Fondo delle Valle di flames And Fassa. “The climate this year has been our enemy and our friend – he admits – after the anomalous heat, finally last week twenty centimeters of snow fell like a godsend, whitening the valleys and saving the race”.

The natural snow was added to the approximately sixty thousand cubic meters of artificial snow fired, assures the president of Marcialonga, Angelo Corradini, which thus responds to some controversies raised in recent days by environmental associations, “in respect of environmental sustainability”. “Dolomiti Energia – explains Corradini – one of Marcialonga’s important partners, supplies and guarantees 100% sustainable energy, produced with renewable sources and whose generation does not cause gas emissions which are responsible for the greenhouse effect. Marcialonga therefore uses it during competitions and 100% clean energy all year round.”

At the start a 90 year old bison

Enrolled at the start are 9 senators, i.e. those cross-country skiers who have participated in all the editions. Among these there is also a 90-year-old athlete, Luciano BertocchiMalborghetto (Ud), born in 1933.

Marcialonga Story: 300 old-time cross-country skiers at the start

The journey towards the fiftieth edition of Marcialonga began on Friday evening 27 January with the first major collateral event: the evocative Marcialonga Story, this year in the unprecedented version by night. The yesteryear event brought over 300 cross-country skiers to the track in Lago di Tesero, in Val di Fiemme old style on the tracks of the famous Marcialonga slope. Wooden or plastic skis, bamboo sticks, boots and strictly period clothing: the hands of time seemed to have stopped in the Seventies.

The Muro della Strega at the finish line, 20 percent slope: the novelty of Marcialonga 2023

But the fiftieth edition will be characterized by an important technical innovation concerning the track, in particular the finish line. The traditional climb between Cascata and Cavalese, in fact, has been modified in the sense that it has been made even harder. “We have shortened the distance by about 500 meters and increased the slope with peaks of up to 20 percent – explains Brigadoi – only the leading athletes will be able to push with skis together and their arrival at the finish line will be spectacular, from the hundredth onwards it will be a herringbone climbing”. The last ramp was baptized Mur de la Striain memory of a real witch hunt conducted at the beginning of the sixteenth century in the valley of the Dolomites.

Will the Mur de la Stria make a difference? The great champions say no, certainly the seven thousand five hundred ‘bison’ (the amateur athletes who take part in the Marcialonga are called this way) will be put to the test in those last terrible hairpin bends.

The large numbers of the Marcialonga dei ‘bisonti’: not just sport

Marcialonga has always been a great event linked to amateurs, i bison. The large numbers of participants who fly over 7500 amply testify to this. There are 263,889 subscribers to the 49 editions already celebrated, and the fiftieth edition kicks off on Sunday 29 January (the first saw the light on 7 February 1971, three have been cancelled). Every year there are at least 1500 volunteers who make the event possible. And it’s not just sport, given that it is estimated that for the two valleys the induced turnover is around 9 million euros.

Marcialonga is also an important competitive appointment because, being a Ski Classics stage, it brings all the strongest athletes of the moment, specialized in long distances and beyond, over the 70 km from Moena to Cavalese. The Ski Classics circuit is to all intents and purposes the long distance World Cup and as such is attended by 35 Pro-Teams with athletes who, having left the traditional World Cup, World Cup and Olympics, now compete in what can be defined the double polling festival.

Marcialonga and the world: cross-country skiers from 36 countries

There were over a thousand competing in 1971, including 37 foreigners from six nations, while in the past edition no less than 37 countries were represented. The large numbers are reconfirmed for the splendid Marcialonga 2023 party: there are around 7500 members (the pro teams have time to register until just before the race) from 36 nations, with the Scandinavian countries Norway and Sweden having the highest rate of foreign competitors. More than 2000 Italians have already said yes to the 50th edition of Marcialonga and many Czechs, Estonians, Finns, Germans and Swiss will also parade along the track that leads from Moena to Cavalese. Large groups of Americans, Asians, South Americans and even some “buffalo” from New Zealand will also reach the Fiemme and Fassa valleys.

The Marcialonga at the foot of the Dolomites

At the foot of the Dolomites, a Unesco heritage site, the Valli di Fiemme and Fassa wind through, crossed by the Avisio stream which was born, according to legend, from the weeping of a peasant girl left on the Marmolada glacier. Territories of disarming beauty, which leave in the hearts of those who pass by the wonder of what mother nature is capable of. Not only that: those who visit these valleys know and appreciate the people, welcoming and helpful, enthusiastic and in love with their land. This is one of the secrets that makes Marcialonga so appreciated, her heart alive and beating.

The Marcialonga 50X50 in wooden skis and bamboo poles

On the occasion of the 50th edition, the organizing committee is proposing a truly exciting challenge to 50 daredevil cross-country skiers “from yesteryear”. At 7 am on Sunday 29 January, fifty athletes will tackle the 70 km between the Valli di Fiemme and Fassa with equipment and clothing dating back to 1971 (or earlier), i.e. wooden skis, 75mm bindings, bamboo poles and wearing a 1970s cross country ski suit. A real immersion in the past, at the price of 5,000 Lire (€2.58), corresponding to the entry fee for the first Marcialonga.