Isolde Kostner,
Bolzano 1975.

Italian champion, winner of 2 world championships gold medals in super giant slalom,
and 2 World Cups in downhill.

2 World Cups in downhill. Daughter, sister and granddaughter of hockey players, her future seemed to be carved in the ice. But she chose the snow. Or perhaps it has been the snow that chose her. On her third Christmas she received the first pair of skis, and it was love straight away. An uncontrollable passion, supported by her mum and expressed in her childhood on the slopes of Ortisei. At the age of 11 she started proper trainings, renounces, early evenings to avoid being tired. But she didn’t miss anything. She had her sport. She started out with high level downhill skiing in 1993, winning the gold medal in super giant at the Junior World Championships in Colere. The following season, she made her debut in the World Cup, and one month later, she won her first race. A few days later she gained two bronzes at the XVII Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer. In those years she was one of the greatest interpreters of super giant slalom: she won 2 consecutive gold medals at the World Championships in Sierra Nevada in 1996 and Sestriere in 1997, stepping several times on the highest step of the podium also in the following seasons. In 2001 she achieved a legendary result for the Italian ski, conquering for the first time the World Cup in downhill. The following season she won the same World Cup and the silver medal, in downhill again, at the XIX winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. After the serious injury during the downhill tests in Lake Louise in November 2002, she has not been able to reach again the consistent performance and the results obtained in her golden years. This is why she remembers with deep emotion her last victory in 2004, in downhill in Haus, Austria, 14 months after the fall, the 14 hardest months of her professional career. On the 10th of January 2006 she announced her retirement and her pregnancy. Currently she dedicates to the family and the hotel that she manages with her husband. She’s a messenger of ADMO (Bone Marrow Donors Association) and bone marrow donor. She follows with enthusiasm the career of her cousin Caroline, the skater, who resembles her for the tenacious meticulousness.

Lino Zani,
Temù (Brescia) 1957.

Director of Fondazione Italiana per le Montagne, technical and sports adviser,
sports and television manager and promoter,ski instructor since 1976.

He’s been living in an alpine refuge at 2,500 metres since the age of 2. Skiing and climbing have become natural movements more than walking. 1984 is the core year of his life. His friend Gianluca Rosa, wrote a letter to the Blessed Pope Karol Wojtyla, a ski and mountains enthusiast, describing the beauties of Adamello mountains. After an incognito inspection on behalf of the private secretary Monsignor Stanislaw, Lino’s family was asked to have the Pope as their guest for a few days in July in the Rifugio ai Caduti on the Adamello – Lobbia Alta which they were managing at that time. It seemed a foolish venture: the Pope in a basic and cold refuge, where just the kitchen and the living-room were heated. But it was decided, and it had to be organised secretly: the excursionists would have breakfast with the Pope. However, Mr. Pertini, at the time the 86 year old President of the Italian Republic, became acquainted with the Pope’s trip. Having been invited to join, he left with the helicopter; kept the secret but decided to move everyone out of the area: the official version was that some bombs of the Big War were to be set off. For a whole day the group skied in full freedom, on the completely virgin runs of the glacier. The following morning the news was broadcasted: for the first time in history the Pope was on holiday. That was the most beautiful day of Lino’s life: the delicious meal cooked by mum Carla; the Mass in the refuge before skiing; the Pope who stopped, in the deepest silence of the immense and desert glacier, praying on the Cresta Croce, a wonderful and solitary spur, with an old cross that was put there at the beginning of the XX century, in memory of the death of a shepherd. This is how a lifelong fellowship started in the total whiteness of eternal snow. A true friendship, a tie of affection crowned by the words of the Blesses Pope: “Lino, you shall be the apostle of the cross. Take Christ's cross to every latitude of the world”. Lino, ski instructor, mountains man, didn’t flinch: “Before every expedition, I’ve met him to get a blessed cross to take to the peaks, in order to leave a sign of God”. And this also happened on the first expedition to the North Pole in 2001 - it was famous due to the participation of Mike Buongiorno, at the time an extraordinary 77 year old man, and a long-term good friend of Lino. Lino has been dedicating his Tuesdays to the Pope for 21 years: he’s been going to Rome, Mass and then skiing in Abruzzo region, always secretly. Throughout that long time only two people have recognised Karol on the slopes: a child and a restaurant owner. They have never told anyone. Ski instructor, excursionist, television manager, movie double, Lino Zani's face talks about him, the mountains he’s climbed, the profound and intense experiences he’s lived, the people who gave him a lot and whom he’s responded with equal generosity. He wishes his book, “Era santo, era uomo” (He was blessed, he was a man) - written with love and strain while his brother was dieing of leukaemia – became a movie. At the age of 60 he wants to make himself a present: the Everest peak, which he's already reached three times. Also for this umpteenth and hard venture he shall take Karol’s words with him: “From the peak you can only descend". Because, climbing is hard, but you shall be aware that the descent is the hardest moment. On the mountains as well as in life.

Franz Pichler,
Montagna (Bolzano) 1959.

Ski instructor since 2009.

For many years coach of young skiers of the Ski School Oclini, he officially became ski instructor when he was 50, but his junior trainer career started long before. Among his customers, also a young Elmar Stimpfl. He would like children and youngsters to spend more time practicing sport. Because running is very good, but rushing things is bad.


Laura Millo,
Bolzano 1967.

Sport teacher at secondary schools, athletics trainer, ski instructor since 1992.

Her dad, an alpine guide, bought her a pair of skis for her second birthday. In the first class of primary school she already knew what she wanted to do when she was an adult: to teach other people how to run on the snow. On the slopes she learned how to face life in a joyful way: looking for the funny side of things makes everything run smoothly. Like the skis on the snow.


Leo Pichler,
Cermes 1957.

Police agent, ski instructor since 1979.

The snow led him towards Elmar Stimpfl. They started skiing together at the age of 13: While Leo was still racing he became an example for Elmar who defines him a “man of few words, but good lessons”. He became an instructor and the first “structured” trainer at Passo Oclini. Elmar, a longstanding friend, has been his first client.

Isabell Vallazza,
Bolzano 1987.

Ski instructor since 2006.

Kathrin Vallazza,
Bolzano 1984.

Ski instructor since 2002.

Sisters, great sportswomen, they both ski since they are 5 years old. Isabell gave up the agonistic career after an accident, but she continued dedicating to ski all the winters of her life, teaching this sport with joy and enthusiasm. She has a degree in international economics, and when she’s not on the slopes she works in a bank. She loves her life and adores her place, which she would not leave for any reason in the world. Kathrin has been teaching ski full time for five years and is currently alternating this task with a job in a fitness centre in Bolzano. Her life is ironically divided between friends who are not able to ski and a family who wouldn’t do anything else. The mountains are her big inspiration muse, even when they’re not covered by snow.


Christine Zemmer,
Castelrotto 1967.

Ski instructor since 1986.

Evi Zemmer,
Castelrotto 1964.

Ski instructor since 1983.

Sisters in the blood as well as in sport, lively and full of enthusiasm, overflowing with love for the mountains and South Tyrol. Christine is also a marathon runner, but her heart is full of snow. Teaching skiing is her fresh air dream, related with nature, sport and human relationship. She loves the slopes because they are democratic, on the slopes all the people are the same, each person is alone with individual limits and fears. The instructor is a guide, a friend, and sometimes, also a bit psychologist. Among her regular clients, the legendary Kastelruther Spatzen. Also Evi is madly in love with her job, she lives to teach and train. When she’s not on her skis, she jumps on the bike grinding out thousand of miles every year. She would like more respect for the mountains and the safety rules on the slopes, therefore she in increasingly more committed with mental training, convinced that strength and health have to be cultivated first in the mind and then in the body.

Karl Schranz,
Sankt Anton am Arlberg 1938.

Winner of three World Championships gold medals and two Overall World Cup titles (1969 and 1970), instructor and trainer.

He gained international attention in 1962, when he won two gold medals, for downhill and combined, at the Chamonix World Championships. At the Grenoble Olympics in 1968 he raced for the gold medal in slalom against the local idol Jean-Claude Killy: in the second run he was out, distracted by a mysterious spectator who was crossing the course during his run; the race jury decided to make him repeat the run, and he beat Killy; afterwards, with no apparent reason, the jury stepped back and conferred the gold medal to the French, making this episode one of the most controversial issues of ski history. The following 12th of December, Schranz took his revenge at the World Championships in Val-d’Isère where he won the giant slalom; in the same season he achieved eight podia and won the Overall World Cup, on top of the gold in the downhill and giant slalom. The following year he repeated, winning the Overall World Cup title and the downhill; at the World Championships he was the giant slalom world champion. After his disqualification from the Olympics in Sapporo, despite he was welcomed like a hero in Vienna, he retired from agonistic career. In love with his home town, where he founded a ski school and where he's still living and managing a hotel with his family, he’s done his best to have the ski World Championships being held there in 2001. Among his clients also Vladimir Putin, whom he has supported as advisor for the Soči Olympics in 2014.

Madame Renate Hirsch Giacomuzzi,
Baviera (Germany).

Style master all along.

An uncontrollable explosion of femininity. Eccentric, funny, coloured. She’s Madame Renate Hirsch Giacomuzzi, charismatic character of the international jet set, who varies from refined holidays in St. Moritz and Cala di Volpe, brisk social events around the world and a dynamic everyday life in Bolzano, town that she chose after her marriage for her son Leander grow up. An enthusiast sportswoman, she preferred to live in South Tyrol, “marvellous and protected” area, rather than in the chaotic environment of the big European metropolis. In love with art, she studied music (piano and organ), and regrets not having fought enough to make her dream come true and become a musician. She is passionate, curious, altruist, loves being surrounded by fair people who reciprocate her joy and witty friendship with the same spontaneous genuineness. She is a teacher with full rights, not for skiing though, but she knows how to live in a brave and active manner: an athlete in body and soul. Pure essence of femininity, also on the slopes, and whenever she practices sport, her look is always perfect. Indeed she says that being a woman is her biggest wealth. Always amusing and never trivial, she loves creating her own dresses and accessories. The colour is her guide: she plunges into the rolls of multicoloured fabric to come out with an idea. Then she designs her creations that are executed in a haute couture atelier in Munich. She often gets the utmost expression of the colour by dyeing all the accessories, whether they are boots, shoes, furs, sleeves or hair bands, with the same colour of the matching dress. With Vist - a brand she’s been attached to for years - it has been love at first sight. Thanks to a friend who introduced her this brand, she’s immediately felt a strong feeling with it, falling in love with the top quality of materials and manufacture, in addition to an always original design of the products. And the result has been a collaboration that led to the creation of some exclusive tailor made garments for her. Eventually Vist and Renate share the same DNA: maniacal obsession for every single detail. And share one big must: remember to always dare.

Josef Strobl, Holzgau (Austria) 1974. ,
Holzgau (Austria) 1974.

Austrian downhill skiing champion, naturalised Slovenian citizen,
seven times gold in World Cup, ski instructor since 2002.

Called Pepi, specialised in fast disciplines, in 1994 his coaches took him to his first World Cup just to participate in the official training. He achieved the best time and entered the team. For his debut he asked his older colleague Marc Girardelli for advices on the line to keep on the run in Val d’Isere. He started with a very high number, but managed to mock the French Luc Alphand, inaugurating his career with a resounding downhill victory. He became integral part of the Austrian team that has been dominating the World Cup between the 90's and the beginning of 2000. In those years he won seven gold medals: 3 for downhill, 2 for super giant slalom, 1 for giant slalom, and 1 for parallel slalom. From 2004 to 2006, when he retired, he’s raced for Slovenia. Sport has been a perfect school of hard knocks, because he’s learnt to make important decisions in a few seconds. In fact, every race is a nonstop series of immediate choices that have a direct effect on the final result. Even if everyday life and work allow more time to think, he believes that having a sports-like frame of mind is a big advantage. Currently he works in the family’s company with the aim of developing a sports shop chain; he also deals with renewable energy and is planning an expedition to Greenland. After his retirement, he abandoned the slopes for a couple of years. He loves speed, is an enthusiast of sport cars and trial bikes, 2 years ago he started running on the snow. Skis are indeed the best non-motorized means to reach high speeds in very few seconds. And he cannot resist this feeling anymore.

Dario Dellantonio,
Cavalese (Trento) 1965.

Police officer, ex motocross driver, ski instructor since 2000.

He has been passionate about motocross since his childhood, and he managed to race in the World Championships. He’s practiced this sport at pro level for 7 years, having a great deal of fun and many broken bones. At the age of 27 he moved from the curves on dirt patch to the turns on the snow, until a back trauma stopped his career and he undertook the ski instructor route in Predazzo, in the Dolomites.

Luca Fontanive,
Cavalese (Trento) 1966.

Police officer, national team instructor and trainer, ski instructor since 1985.

Teaching how to “brush” the slopes is a vocation that he betrays only to caress the green with his golf irons. He would love if people who teach skiing would do it "as it used do be done", when to be a good instructor you had to do it full time. He’s a maniac of technique, each run that he devours is a challenge to himself towards perfection, always searching for the perfect turn.

Fabrizio Paluselli,
Cavalese (Trento) 1969.

Police officer, trainer, ski instructor since 1992.

Grandson of Alfredo Paluselli, unforgettable and legendary man of Val di Fiemme, alpine guide and ski instructor, founder of the Capanna Cervino and Baita Segantini, the small “alpine palace” known all over the world, has been breathing mountain and skiing tales since he was a child. The only grandson to become a ski instructor, he dedicates his leisure time to voluntary work in Alpine Rescue and climbing. The mountains and his happiness go together.

Carlo Costanzo,
Bologna 1944.

Ex-salesman, theatre actor since 1999, always been a master of life.

Son of the war, he grew up without his dad. In his life few great women: his mum, who died in 2010, would always preach "you either study or work" and made him toe the line; his wife and his daughter, the sunshine of his life. He deems himself crazy. Crazy about optimism, which is his main judgment method in tackling life. He’s lived and worked intensely every minute of his 67 years, wisely dosing joy and severity. His wife Cesarina is his big love, it was love at first sight at a bus stop over fifty years ago and still is. In his third youth, he's been studying first and then acting in theatres. His passion for the Bologna dialect is increasingly stronger, he loves discovering the most hidden places of his town and he’s read everything about Giovannino Oliviero Giuseppe Guareschi, books that helped him sticking to his belief: remember to always smile. This is the third Visual Book portraying him. So now he is testimonial as well as well-known style icon.

Ivan Mahlknecht,
Venezia 1963.

Ski instructor since 1987.

Son, grandson and dad of ski instructors, he started skiing at the age of 3. He’s been the first Italian to participate in the freestyle World Championships in Tignes in 1986. He was in Calgary in 1988 when acrobatic skiing wasn’t an Olympic discipline yet, but only a demo sport. Full time instructor, he’s convinced that there are no bad runs, but only scarce skiers: a good skier has fun everywhere.

Flavio Prinoth,
Bressanone 1962.

Real Estate agent, manager of the ski school Selva Val Gardena,
ski instructor since 1980.

Even though he admits that ski instructors have lost some of their legendary appeal, he deeply loves this job, because it saves him from routine, he stays outdoors and it allowed him to meet people from all over the world. He wishes it became a less seasonal job, since he’s convinced that mountains need their instructors all year long.

Sergio Doliana,
Cavalese (Trento) 1965.

Manager of the ski school Pampeago,

trainer at the Agonistic Centre Fiemme, ski instructor since 1989.
He’s in love with snow. But also with wood. He spends his leisure time in his small joiner’s workshop and in summer works in a timber company with his brother-in-law. Becoming a ski instructor crowned his agonistic past and, in particular, took him on the track of a special client: his wife. Keen bike and mountain bike enthusiast, he dreams about managing a resort which would allow him to introduce his customers to the mountains in every season.

Luigi Dondio,
Cavalese 1963.

Manager of the Summer Sports Centre in Tesero,
trainer and ski instructor since 1983.

He started skiing on his home’s green. In 1969 the ski centre in Pampeago was founded and Mario Deflorian was in charge of guiding and training him for agonistic activity, which he performed until he was 16 years old. Great sportsman, cycling, tennis and football enthusiast, when he teaches on the slopes he feels authorised and obliged to communicate the mountains to anyone he bumps into.

Mark Girardelli,
Lustenau (Austria) 1963.

One of the best and more complete ski champions ever,
five times winner of the World Cup (1985, 1986, 1989, 1991 and 1993),
four gold medals at the World Championships.


He started skiing at the age of 5, and at 7 he participated in the first races. In 1975 he won the slalom and giant slalom, junior class, and these races were valid for the “Trofeo Topolino”, a competition dedicated to the young potential ski champions. Two years later he achieved a success in the same competition, under 18, between the close gates. In 1976 he left the Austrian National team for Luxemburg: his dad Helmut wants to coach him personally, which was not allowed by the Austrian ski federation. He stepped on the first World Cup podium in Wengen, Switzerland, in 1981; two years later, in Sweden, he obtained the first win, and the first serious injury ocurred. Between 1985 and 1987 he won the Overall World Cup twice and a gold medal in combined at the World Championships in Crans-Montana. Even more exciting was the year 1989, when he set a new record reaching the highest step of the podium for every World Cup discipline. The same year he also won the gold medal for the combined at the Vail World Championships. After another very serious accident while training in 1990 and a miraculous recovery, he managed to secure again the World Cup and the gold medal in slalom at the World Championships in Sankt Anton. 1992 is the year of the Olympic medals: two silver in super giant and giant in Albertville. Finally, in 1993 his last and fifth success in overall ranking of the World Cup, a record which is still unbeaten among the men’s. At the end of his career in 1996 he conquered his last gold medal in combined at the World Championships in Sierra Nevada. In December of the same year he retired from active skiing, offering history a spectacular list of successes. He stepped on the World Cup podium 100 times, being 46 times on the highest step.

Maurizio Bonelli,
Siror di Primiero (Trento) 1963.

Auditor, Chairman of the Cassa Rurale Valle di Primiero e Vanoi, already Chairman of the Ski Instructors Association of Trentino, since 2011 Chairman of AMSI -the Italian Ski Instructors Association, ski instructor since 1983.

Married with an ex-client of his, in 1989 he specialised as technical ski school director, today he teaches just a few days per year, but skis flow in his veins. He became ski instructor against his dad’s will who wanted him to be involved in other activities. He taught full time for two seasons, then only part-time, choosing to give more time to consulting which in 2009 led him to the role of chairmen of Cassa Rurale Valli di Primiero e Vanoi. However he’s never abandoned his beloved sport and snow world that he's been caring for with perseverance and commitment. He would like to see all the ski instructors united by the same uniform, all proud of having a job that he deems absolutely special: the ski instructor is indeed one of the most profound experts of the mountains, among the best interpreters that a territory can possibly enjoy. Even if he's seen tourism change throughout the years, the relationships between guests and instructors becoming slightly more aloof and maybe less friendly, this has not affected his enthusiasm in the slightest, nor his desire to act and to be constantly on the ball. No doubt though, with the skis on.

Fabio Vettori,
Trento 1957.

Craftsman and designer, ski instructor since 1976.

He’s been a full time ski instructor for 20 years, on Monte Bondone, Molveno and Andalo, a job that gave him the time to cultivate his other main skill. Since he was a child he used to draw landscapes enriched with plenty of details. When he was a boy he used to observe skiers from above, seeing them as small moving soldiers, while they lift and plunge intermittently their poles in the snow. They are the first symptoms of that overwhelming passion for tiny details which will lead him to look for a subject that can multiply itself within an articulate scene: in 1972 ants invaded his drawings. In 1981 he participated in a graphics competition, the following year he organised his first exhibition and in 1985 he undertook the trade of his first stationary products in Italy. There were other exhibitions in the province of Trento and other Italian towns and, in 1995, the company that is still producing and trading many of his products was founded. Since 2000 he has been part of the Artistic Craftsman and Quality Consortium Trentino. In 2003 he published his first book, “Un mondo di Formiche” (A World of Ants), in which he narrates the universe of his hard-working miniatures through images and words. The following year he opened the first official single-brand shop in Moena, followed by the one in Rome in 2008. Last year he obtained the award of “Excellence Trademark Artigianarte” and this year his first cartoons shall be broadcasted. He stopped teaching skiing in 1995. The irony of fate...his last customer’s name was Formica (Ant).

Elmar Stimpfl,
Trento 1973.

Entrepreneur, founder and owner of VIST brand,
ski instructor since 1992.

At the age of 2 he put on the skis. Very soon he discovered that he could wear them in summer too, and started the seasons in Val Senales: in the mornings he trained with Roman Erlacher, afternoons and evenings he worked as a waiter. In 1990 he quit his studies to try the professional career, but a bad fall fouled up his ambitions. He immediately recovered the year of school he had lost and left to the military service. Once back, he started running on the snow again: in 1996 he entered the National B team, arrived to Coppa Italia and European Cup; the following year he became police officer and two years later he retired from pro activity. In those years he taught skiing in Oclini during holidays; he had fun, loved encouraging clients to bring themselves into play, to defy the snow beyond their limits. However he sensed that it was not his definite path. In the same period he was also marketing, buying and selling any kind of goods, from grappas to speck, from skis to his mum's rolls that he would sell to his training mates. Between the joke and the need, this business became more serious when he started dealing with ski plates. In 1997 Vist was founded. He completely abandoned the slopes for a few years, absorbed by the new entrepreneurial business. In this adventure he treasured his sports background: resistance, inclination for risk and sacrifice, capability to concentrate developed on the slopes also supported him in his entrepreneurial business. Having been an athlete provided him with a solid mental and physical structure: in his legs and especially in his head, he's found the right resources to face the pressure of a working life at foolish pace. On the snow, after each fall and each injury, he learnt to think that "from the bottom you can only go up again". As much as a moment can be hard, it’s never a defeat, but an input to do better and reverse fate. He believes he hasn’t been a sports talent, but he still did much thanks to the effort and the work done on himself. Likewise he is a self- taught entrepreneur, he applied that "sweat philosophy" that always makes you look forward, beyond the gates, even beyond the finishing line: “If you think you’ve arrived, it only means you’ve run out of fuel in your engine”, says Elmar.

Celina Seghi,
Abetone (Pistoia) 1920.

Ten times Italian slalom champion,
seven times downhill and combined champion.

Woman and champion, very rare to find, very tiny but really agile, she's our national "snow mouse". Her story is unique and marvellous, she raced during the wars, she saw Italy and the world changing several times, she’s been experiencing skiing since it was something different: total freedom, craziness, fatigue and risk. Born in a numerous family, she had a strong and exuberant personality that, if not on the slopes, would have certainly imposed in other facets of life. About her childhood she remembers her mum who, after skiing with her brothers, would ask how much fun she had, without a hint of concern, because being outdoors was considered as natural as breathing. A real master in Italy as well as abroad, both in downhill and in slalom, she's the female athlete who's won the most Italian titles: from 1937- the first success in downhill and slalom- until 1954 all in all she has won 24 downhill titles, 10 in slalom, 1 in giant slalom and 7 in combined. During the war, in 1941, she participated in the World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo – never approved by FIS – winning the gold medal in slalom and silver in combined. In 1948, in downhill and combined, she was fourth at the St. Moritz Olympics and gold in Sestriere; she won again in the same disciplines in Sankt Anton and Kandahar. At the World Championships in Aspen in 1950 she was the only Italian woman: lost and left to her own devices she had to ask her Austrian colleagues where she had to go down; she gained the bronze medal in slalom. In 1952 she was back to the Olympics, in Oslo, where she ranked fourth in the slalom, seventh in the giant slalom and won the Foemina Cup in Abetone. Always available for anyone, especially the family, she’s been promoting many actions for solidarity, charity and support for the cancer research. Registered in the AMOVA list (Gold Medals for Athletic Value Association), she received numerous awards, among which the prize AUSER – Filo d’Argento in 2010. She celebrated her 80th birthday hang gliding from Monte Gomito. Seven years later she participated in the Master Championships in Abetone and won two gold medals. For the last 30 years she’s been the official patroness of Pinocchio sugli Sci (Pinocchio on skis), an event which gave her the chance to become friends with the Albanian ski team that Celina has supported and helped during the difficult years. Since 2008 she has been following and also participating in the races organized by the Association “Sciare col Cuore”. Great communicator, she doesn’t miss any chance to spend time with young people and tell them her sound and immense love for sport. She says that in order to be happy you need to ban laziness and greediness, and take interest in everything, even in what we’re not interested in. She’s 92, and whenever she can she puts her boots and skis on and runs on the snow.

Nostalgic People

Markus Troger,
Castelrotto 1958.
Ski instructor since 1982.

Otto Mauroner,
Castelrotto 1941. Carpenter.

Paul Thomaseth,
Siusi 1927.
Butcher and delicatessen seller,
great-grandfather and mountaineering instructor

Martin Schenk,
Siusi 1953. Chef.

Florian Malfertheiner,
Castelrotto 1933.
Bricklayer and producer of home made grappa.

Lidia Piccolruaz,
Castelrotto 1957.
Housewife and excellent tailor.

Years ago they met on the occasion of a nostalgic people meeting coming from several European countries. Sharing the passion for the conservation of old mountain relics, they organised a meeting on the Siusi Alp. Since then they’ve not separated anymore and, meeting after meeting, such as the downhill at the World Cup in Val Gardena, they’ve entered an international circuit that takes them around Italy and Europe. They also participate in symbolic races, demonstrations and shows where they ski with old equipment that is perfectly preserved, showing off huge and extremely heavy wooden skis. Not long ago they welcomed the first lady of the group, Lidia. They are still testing and shall assess further on whether to accept other ladies.

Gerhard Haemmerle,
Lustenau (Austria) 1961.
Brand Manager VIST, Head of Product Development VIST,
ski instructor since 1978.

Studied Motor Sciences at the Innsbruck University and for 17 years he worked on different levels in the field of instructors’ training in Austria. He also trained the Austrian women’s team for 2 years. In 1985, at the International Congress of ski instructors in Vuokatti, Finland, he won the technical competition among the 13 participating nations, an award that gave a new input to his inborn interest in research and design of increasingly more sophisticated skis. This commitment from being a hobby soon turned into a job: he became Product Manager in the alpine skiing sector for Head, Atomic and Nordica, and participated with great influence in the design and marketing of the first carving skis. In 2003 he landed in Vist, and helped strengthen its positioning as an apparel and ski equipment brand featuring utmost technical and aesthetic performance. Even today his passion for the search for new functional and aesthetic solutions - which can make skiing an increasingly more accessible and appealing sport - comes second only to the love for his wife Petra and his children Jacob and Julia.

Anna Marconi,
Genova 1985.

Sports manager, ski instructor since 2011.

She lives in Switzerland and works in the sports management company GPS Performance in Lausanne, which deals with the image of some alpine ski athletes, such as Lindsey Vonn, Tina Maze, Didier Defago, Curtoni sisters and other young Swiss and Swedish athletes. She’s an athlete herself, she has been racing in national B team until 2009, she held her first ski lesson on December 26, 2011 in Courmayeur. What she misses the most about athlete's career is nomadic life. She loves travelling and laughing. Emanuele Ravano is her fiancé.

Manuela Profanter,
Bressanone 1987.

Pedagogic Science student in Verona, ski instructor since 2011.

She tried the skis when she was 3 and never left them since. Her life is busy and active, plays tennis, rides the bike, does jogging and climbing, when she stops she loves reading. Teaching is a job as well as an amusement, especially with younger clients who irradiate their enthusiasm. She’s planning to discover the mountains in Canada.

Artur Schönweger,
Merano 1969.

Confectioner, mental coach,
ski instructor since 1991.

Third generation confectioner, he splits between the warm scents of his ovens and the biting cold on the slopes. Being a ski instructor gets him in touch with people from all over the world, so different, yet so similar on the snow. That’s why he studies and works as a mental coach. Because, eventually, all the clients ask for the same: a guide to encourage them to overcome their limits.

Hans Berger,
Selva dei Molini 1947.

Agriculture, Tourism, Land Book and Land Register Councillor,
Deputy Chairman of the Independent Province of Bolzano,
ski instructor since 1972.

He’s always had a passion for politics, which started at the Campo Tures municipality and continued with the HGV- Hotelkeepers and trade businesses association – and with the Management of the Natural Park Vedrette di Ries. He's been a member of the South Tyrol Province Board since 1993. In 1999 he became a member of the Province Council and since 2008 he is Deputy Chairman and Councillor for Agriculture, Tourism, Land Book and Land Register. He owns a hotel, a maso, a farm, a food shop, and a ski lift. Plenty of things, as he says, but all miniatures. Born and grown up at 1,600 metres altitude, he’s been breathing skiing and the great champions’ ventures since he was a child. About 20 years ago, he witnessed a bad accident: a drunk slopes’ pirate run over a group of children and seriously injured some of them. Since then he’s always cared about safety on the slopes, and tried to communicate the passion for skiing to as many youngsters as possible. In this mission, the role of instructors is essential: it is important that the whole category is very skilled and, above all, dearly in love with what they do. He lives with his wife Christine and the two daughters in Riva di Tures, bound to the traditions of his home town, but also open to novelties.

Carlo Senoner,
Selva di Val Gardena (Bolzano) 1943.

Slalom world champion in 1966,
ski instructor since 1969.

He was born in Selva di Val Gardena, in Freina, at the foot of Sassolungo mountain and of the famous Ciampinoi run. Sun of carvers (later on hotelkeepers), he was the second-last of a very numerous family, and as such, he was given the chance to undertake the sports career, which started up and down along those lawns which would become the runs of the well-known Sella Ronda. In 1958 he became Italian junior giant slalom champion. He entered the national team already at the age of 15. Since then his nickname has been “Carletto”. The following year he won again the junior title in giant slalom and was overall winner in the same discipline. He won six medals at the Italian Championships: 1 for downhill, 3 for giant slalom, and 2 for slalom. In 1960 he left Selva heading to the Winter Olympic Games of Squaw Valley in the US- he was the youngest athlete of that edition, amongst races and singing evenings featuring Domenico Modugno, who was touring the US at that time, and was invited to cheer up the Italian athletes far away from their home. Two years later he participated in the Chamonix World Championships, achieving the 7th place in slalom, 5th place in giant slalom, and 4th place in combined. He lost the IX Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck due to an injury, but two years later, at the World Championships in Portillo, Chile, he won the gold in slalom, and he was the only non-French winner of that event. He ended his sports career in 1968, but always remembers with emotion the years of racing, of that way of skiing that does not exist anymore, “down-to-earth”, when athletes managed to do everything on their own, they were enemies at the starting gate and brotherly friends at arrival. He has three children and three grandchildren and he manages his hotel in Selva di Val Gardena. It’s called "Hotel Chalet Portillo" in honour of his victory in Chile.

Corrado Sulsente,
Bassano del Grappa (Vicenza) 1960.

Entrepreneur in the field of Management Consulting and corporative organisation,
general manager of Snowsports Academy San Marino,
founder and managing director of SIAS Ski Instructor Association San Marino,
founder and chairman of the school Scie di Passione in Folgaria, ski instructor since 2007.

He’s been skiing since the age of 4, but due to several reasons he didn’t manage to become a ski instructor in his youth. But didn't give up: teaching and training have always been his field of action; as a matter of fact he operates on a professional level both in corporations as well as in sports. In the year 2000 he decided to dedicate his professional skills to start a challenging path of awareness and growth towards the creation of a new professional profile to teach sports. Since 2005, he’s been working at the Snowsports Academy San Marino project together with the sport institutions of the San Marino Republic. In a few years he took the ski teaching of San Marino to the top level, managing to make the small republic entering the ISIA (International Ski Instructor Association) and Interski, “Association of all Associations” that gathers all the nations representing skiing in the world. Moreover, he managed to have the first Demo Team San Marino making its debut at the Interski of St. Anton in 2011. His last challenge is called Scie di Passione, a brand new professional context dedicated to teaching skiing to disabled and able-bodied people, and to develop ski competitiveness among disabled athletes. Passion for sports didn’t take him just on the ski races, but also on the rally ones: since 1979 he owns the CSAI (Italian Sport Cars Commission) license and participates in national as well as international races with his son, wife and son-in-law who alternate as co-pilots. He believes that impossible challenges do not exist, only possible dreams do.

Thomas Andergassen,
Caldaro (Bolzano) 1968.

Trainer of the National Paralympic team, ski instructor since 1990.

After the accident that forced his friend Michael on a wheelchair, he decided to train in Austria in order to be able to take him on the snow. He undertook a path that would lead him to specialize in teaching skiing to disabled people and to participate as coach in the Olympic games in Vancouver and in the World Championships in Sestriere. He’s convinced that he’s learnt more form his clients than vice versa, and hence asks Italy a greater participation and care for the successes of Italian paralympic athletes.

Mauro Bernardi,
Albino (Bergamo) 1977.

Administrator, sitting class ski instructor since 2011.

He was born and grew up a few kilometres away from the Cervino mountain. He started skiing at the age of 13 and at 19 he was travelling the world with his lorry. In 2005, coming back from a journey, nearby Bergamo, an accident hindered the partial use of his legs. In love with Claudia, whom he had married 3 months earlier, he found in her his "wheelchair" and found in himself the strength to get back in the game. He became the dad of Pietro, founded a company dealing with arrangement and services for the motor disabled people and started ploughing the slopes with the monoski. In 2011, at the Snowsports Academy in San Marino, he obtained the qualification of first level ski instructor specialised in teaching sitting class disabled people, a completely new position on the Italian ski scenery.

Tommaso Balasso,
Schio (Vicenza) 1981.

Photographer, founder and technical director of
the school Scie di Passione in Folgaria,
ski instructor since 2011.

After years of professional skiing, in 2003 he entered the Italian Alpine skiing Paralympic team as guide of the partially sighted skier Gianmaria Dal Maistro. Tom & Jerry, as they’re lovingly called, won 5 Paralympic medals, 5 World Championships medals, and 3 at the World Cup. Goccia d’Oro award for sports excellence by C.I.P (Italian Paralympic Committee) in 2005, the following year Golden Collar of C.O.N.I. (Italian National Olympic Committee), the highest award in Italy and of the honour of the “Commendatore” of the Italian Republic. Photography is passion and work, and it has always been going along with and interweaving his life on the snow.

Christian Lanthaler,
Moso in Passiria (Bolzano) 1966.

Goldsmith, Italian paralympic champion.

At the age of 5 he lost his left leg. At the age of 18 he tried to ski on the lawns nearby his home and learnt on his own how to get away with it. When he arrived on the slopes everything became even more easy and natural. He was noticed and taken to the national team. Two years later he won the Italian Championships. His first Paralympics were in Albertville in France in 1992, where he won two 8th places in giant and super giant slalom. In 1994, at the following Games in Lillehammer, he arrived 9th in slalom and 19th in super giant slalom. Four years later, in Nagano, which are remembered as the most exciting and involving Olympics - he arrived 6th in slalom and super giant and 13th in downhill. Finally, in 2002 at his 4th paralympic participation in Salt Lake City, he ended up conquering two wonderful silver medals, in downhill and super G. And it’s in the States where he fell during a race: the ski exploded in his face scything one eye. This time fate was more merciful and despite the dreadful night spent in a clinic in Denver, the 23 stitches in the eye and one year of difficulties, he completely recovered the eyesight. He deserves a place ad honorem among our ski instructors because very few people care for this sport so consistently and generously. When snow is not available, he practices water ski, a sport that he’s tackled with the same obstinacy, being able to win the gold medal in 2009 at the water ski Championships. He will try to repeat the result in the next edition at the Milan's Seadrome. Active, spontaneous, brave. And creative. Since he was a child he’s been working gold and since 12 years ago he owns his goldsmith lab in Merano. Every morning he repeats to himself: “You only live once”.

Giorgia Lorenz,
Cavalese (Trento) 1982.

Employee in tourism field, ski instructor since 2005.

Sport, nature and travelling are her magic words. She cannot resist music, she adores dancing and is part of a folk group in Canazei that performs local folk dances during the summer. She worked as ski trainer and instructor in Australia and Canada and still wants to travel the world. What she wishes for the future is plenty of joy and a lot of love.

Veronica Gandini,
Rovereto (Trento) 1984.

Timber dealer, federation’s trainer, ski instructor since 2006.

After retiring from the pro career, she became a ski instructor and entered her dad's timber processing company. Independent and determined, she founded her own timber wholesale company. A funny memory takes her back on the Lusia, on the day when on the slopes she heard a voice behind her: “You definitely let those skis run!” It was 2007, and him was her hero, Alberto Tomba.

Barbara Kleon,
Bressanone (Bolzano) 1980.

Retailer, ski instructor since 2010.

Since she was a child she’s been dreaming to become a ski champion and she reached the European Cup in 1998. She won the gold medal three times in super giant and arrived 6th in downhill at the World Cup, but a series of injuries stopped her career. In 2006 she retired. Today she’s ski instructor and a retailer in the sports shop of her parents.

Patrizia Auer,
Bolzano 1974.

Entrepreneur, ski instructor since 1994.

She raced in European Cup and World Cup, standing out especially in giant slalom. After she stopped her agonistic career, she moved to the States where she studied in a college in Nevada. In those years she's raced again on the slopes and travelled a lot to Alaska, Canada and Unites States. She used to teach in Selva di Val Gardena mostly during Christmas holidays. She is the fiancé of the alpine skiing champion Kristian Ghedina since five years ago.

Ylvie Runggaldier,
Bolzano 1976.

Works in her husband’s family hotel, ski instructor since 1994.

She’s been a pro skier from the age of 14, and she participated in the European Cup and in the downhill World Cup. She married the slalom champion Alan Perathoner whom she shares the same sport DNA with. Sport has given her everything: discipline, love for nature and travelling, optimism, inner strength, courage. For her, the most beautiful experience has been teaching skiing to a little girl who was fighting cancer. The most beautiful day has been when she said: “Ylvie, I have won.”

Ernesto Rigoni,
Asiago (Vicenza) 1944.

International tourism expert, ex-manager of the Tourist Board of Trentino region,
Tourism Economics professor at IULM in Milan, professor for the Sport Business Master at Ca’ Foscari in Venice, ski instructor since 1972.

He started skiing in Selva di Val Gardena at the age of 4. He started with ski jumping, then he dedicated to hockey until he was 20. He never stopped skiing and practicing other sports, such as tennis, cycling, sailing. Teaching is a natural instinct and, in this mission, sport is his first source of inspiration, an extraordinary school of discipline, independence, initiative and awareness of one’s limits. He has been chair of the examining commission of ski instructors in Trentino region for twenty years. Currently he’s committed in several projects related to tourism development in countries such as Turkey, Uzbekistan and Altai Republic. He would like that Italian ski instructors and athletes dedicated more interest in knowing the snows of the rest of the world.

Comploi Carmen,
Bressanone (Bolzano) 1990.

Ski instructor since 2011.

She's been racing until the age of 19. She spends the whole winter on the slopes, while in summer she works in a sports apparel shop, practices swimming and running and, whenever possible, goes trekking in the mountains. She’s the youngest out of four sisters, she became an aunty last year.

Yvonn Runggaldier,
Bolzano 1987.

Ski instructor since 2011.

She's been racing in the National C team until 3 years ago. Granddaughter of the homonym alpine skiing champion Peter, daughter of ski instructors, at the moment she wants to work as a professional ski instructor. In summer she works abroad, in order to improve foreign languages.

Elisabetta Lorenzi,
Marmirolo (Mantova) 1985.

Ski instructor since 2009.

At the age of 5 her mum took her on the slopes in Val Senales and she fell in love with snow. She attended the courses to become a ski instructor in South Tyrol and, after having qualified, she was called by Peter Runggaldier to Selva, where she's still working. She’s studying Liaison Interpreting at the University of Philosophy and Literature in Trento, and in the future she would like to work in tourism. Whenever possible, she goes back to Marmirolo, where her parents live with her little brother and twelve hunting dogs.

Alan Stuffer,
Bolzano 1974.

Hotelkeeper, ski instructor since 1992.

He skied at pro level in National B team and raced in European Cup. He manages what used to be a chalet, built by his grandfather, and today is the charming Piz Seteur, at the foot of Sassolungo mountain. Every year is visited by thousands of guests. About his business he especially loves the long winter evenings, when the slopes get empty and the mountains become intimate and silent. He supports the businesses of his area, of which he’s very proud, even if he’s thinking about spending his old age abroad.

Roman Erlacher,
Brunico (Bolzano) 1959.

Hotelkeeper, ex-chairman of Hockey Club Val Pusteria,
trainer and federation’s instructor in charge of the training of instructors in Italy,
ski instructor since 1977.

He founded the second ski school of San Vigilio di Marebbe. He remembers ironically his first FIS race, on Tonale, that was won by his idol Gustav Thöni: “I lost 10 seconds per run. Holes were bigger than me. I would have been faster on foot than on skis”. Today he dedicates every single free moment to the mountains, walking for hours in fresh snow with sealskin. This makes his life extraordinary.

Heini Marcher,
Brunico (Bolzano) 1961.

Musician, ski instructor since 1992.

Versatile musician, he plays the guitar, the keyboard and the accordion. He’s been cheering up the chalet and après-ski visitors for 25 years with his band, knowing that also skiing requires rhythm and that it is possible to give your own swing to any slope song. So, turn after turn, he’s been playing a lifelong melody on the snow.

Franco Frattini,
Rome 1957

He obtained a degree in law, became Attorney general in 1984, then judge of the Regional Administrative Court of Piemonte and, since 1986, member of the Council of State and legal adviser of the Treasury. He’s been Minister for Regional Affairs from 1995 to 1996, Minister of Public Function from 2001 to 2002, European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, Deputy President of the European Commission from 2004 to 2008, and twice Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Chairman of the FISI Association for Ski Schools and Instructors from 1996 to 2009, he’s been Coordinator for the Italian Government of the Organization of the Olympic Games in Turin in 2006. On January 14, 2011 he received the Golden Collar of the Olympic Order, the highest award of the IOC that has been given only to few other Italians “for having allowed the Olympic Committee to enter the United Nations and for his value ski instructor and promoter qualities, by virtue of the results obtained in Turin 2006” (according to the speech of Jacque Rogge, IOC president).
Great Olympic and sportsman, he is strongly convinced that sport plays a fundamental role in the education of people: it teaches that only by sweating a lot you can cut important tapes.

Jessica D’Alonzo,
Cavalese (Trento) 1985.

Osteopath, beautician, ski instructor since 2006.

Her grandfather, Warrant Officer II of the Scuola Alpina della Finanza, and her dad, a tax sergeant, conveyed her the talent for the snow. Her mum and grandmother taught her the skills of beautician. She added up more studies and became an osteopath also. Being a ski instructor allowed her to make a job out of her main amusement. Snow woman, her special observed are novice mountain tourists, those who most often put themselves and other people at risk.

Francesca Zeni,
Cavalese (Trento) 1990.

Barwoman, Ski instructor since 2011.

Fizzy and with lots of interests, she loves having her ears full of music. Infected by her dad, also a ski instructor, she has always been on the slopes, as an athlete, as an instructor and sportswoman. Creative and curious, she dedicates to art and draws for passion and for friends.

Silvia Colla,
Bolzano 1989.

Languages student in Verona, ski instructor since 2010.

She's been racing since the age of 7. About that time she remembers the effort, but especially the happiness of racing and the pleasure of being able to share emotions with the team mates. Today teaching this sport is equally rewarding. She studies languages to be able to understand better her foreign clients and her goal is to become a trainer. She wants to stay there, on the slopes, where she feels so good.

Sepp Gufler,
Moso in Passiria (Bolzano) 1950.

Ex-carabiniere, military instructor, ski instructor since 1980.

He started skiing at the age of 3. When he was young he ploughed the slopes sidewise and descended with 2.14 meter skis without edges. Carabiniere for 30 years, he used to teach skiing only in his free time. He remembers with nostalgia the years in which ski instructors were more charming and the clients were more women than kids.

Gustav Thöni,
Trafoi 1951.

One of the greatest ski champions ever,
four times winner of the World Cup (1971, 1972, 1972 and 1975),
ski instructor and trainer since 1978.

He grew up with the myth of Toni Sailer, and became the standard bearer of the famous “Blue Avalanche” which dominated the slalom and giant slalom races in the 70's. Among his unforgettable successes, the silver medal for the downhill race on the famous Streif in Kitzbühel– January 18, 1975 – behind Franz Klammer, the greatest downhill skier ever, who beat him by just one-hundredth of a second. A venture which has been celebrated in a movie directed by Duccio Tessari in 1981, “Un centesimo di secondo” (One-hundredth of a second), featuring Thöni himself as the main character. He won four World Championships, 69 podia in the World Cup races, of which 24 on the highest step. After retiring from the agonistic career, he contributed to the successes of Alberto Tomba, being his personal trainer for nine years. He trained the Italian national team first as technical director of the men team, and subsequently as general manager. Son of hotelkeepers, today he’s managing the family Hotel Bella Vista in his home town, where you can admire his trophy collection. His leisure time is devoted to the roles of husband, dad and granddad.

Aleksandar Šušiæ,
Čačak - Serbia 1986.

Salesman for his family’s company, ski instructor since 2006.
He got to know skis at the age of 4. A deep passion, sought after and fed beyond the limits and the difficulties of a land devastated by the war. When he was 15 years old he went to Austria to follow his dream, away from home and beloved people, and eventually reached the Serbian national team and the Olympic games. Then, at the peak of fitness, when the results sought after for the whole life seemed to be there, an accident occurred. And everything changed. The champion stopped, but not his skis which keep ploughing the snow with his usual love.

Alfred Mutschlechner,
Braies (Prags) 1961.

Mayor, manager of the ski school and the lifts of Braies-Prags,
ski instructor since 1979, specialised in teaching to disabled people.

He lives to safeguard his land, surrounded by nature and culture, and to make it know and deeply understand to the visitors. He thinks that this project is a whole with his being a ski instructor, because an instructor with true inclination does not only teach skiing but also the mountains.

Emanuele Ravano,
Genova 1978.

Shipbroker for his family’s company, ski instructor since 2000.

Born in a maritime tradition family, his great passion is for the mountains, and aroused on the ski slopes of Courmayeur when he was 3 years old. He raced for National C and B teams. Despite the increasingly more sophisticated equipment, he believes that each learner arrives on the slopes naked: it is the instructor who fits the learner with the suitable equipment in order to win the challenge with the mountains. His fiancé is portrayed a few pages after.

Georg Eisath,
Ega 1957.

Cableway entrepreneur and hotelkeeper, ski instructor since 1983.

Engineer, department head of the lifts in Obereggen at the time of the first experiments in the field of artificial snow facilities, not satisfied by the technologies of that time, he pulled himself together and started up his own big business. At the end of the 80’s the Technoalpin was founded, worldwide leader in the snowmaking sector. He then retired from the company in order to purchase the Ski Centre of Carezza, a resort he’s been caring for until nowadays dreaming about transforming it into the most exclusive and modern ski area in the world.

Ana Kobal,
Jesenice (Slovenia) 1983

Alpine ski commentator for Slovenian National TV, ski instructor since 2000.

She started skiing almost as a joke and got to the Olympics in Turin, where she represented Slovenia on her own in slalom, reaching place number 25. Her job keeps her in touch with old friends of the World Cup, most of whom have become sports commentators like her. Her advice: listen to people a lot , but before that, listen properly to yourself.

Simona Matheoud,
Pinerolo (Torino) 1975.

Trainer Ski School Sestriere, ski instructor since 1996,
Tour leader for incentives.

Her natural habitat is Sestriere where she trains the athletes of the ski club. Most of the skiers are foreigners, she taught on the snow of Argentina and Australia and is planning a season in Canada too. She speaks a bit of all the languages. Not able to keep quiet, she became Donnavventura in 2003 on the occasion of the Grand Raid South America in Patagonia.

Daniele Lorenzi,
Vipiteno (Bolzano) 1970.

Self-employed in fashion business,
ski instructor since 1991

He’s been a pro skier until he was 18 in South Tyrol committee. He studied biology in Bologna, by chance he started working in fashion business and became a professional model, working for the main national and international brands. Today he works as a ski instructor only during holidays and for some regular customers. He doesn’t want to set a goal in his life: each day is a chance to grow. And not to become older.