Not only ice at SCARPA Ice Days

By:
Eva Toschi

Ice Days: it’s just a name, a starting point. After all, before the last snowfall, everything was frozen around here, even what you would normally have to ski on. However, at this first, let’s say “test” edition of the SCARPA Ice Days in Cortina d’Ampezzo there was some ice, but there was also more. Let’s dive into these two days and try to explain what this event is, what it will be and what happened.

The event: yesterday and today

Starting from the beginning, last year SCARPA invited athletes and mountain guides associated with the brand in Cortina to evaluate the feasibility of an event The how, the where, the when. It all started with the idea of ice climbing but then it was decided to extend the event to ski mountaineering too. How not to do it with such a location, and with super motivated ambassadors to share their passion? In this test edition, therefore, two activities were held spread over two days: ice climbing and ski touring. Yes, ok, you ski and climb but how does it actually work? Basically you could sign up for the single day or both and you could choose what to do and which ambassador to do it with. One could ice climb with Hervé Barmasse, with the Ladevant brothers, with Dani Arnold, Mathieu Maynadier or ski with Bruno Compagnet, Silvia Moser, Giulia Monego or Tommaso Cardelli. Just to name a few.

The base camp of the event was the Palestra Cortina 360 where people could meet, attend workshops organized by brand partners (Yes, because the mentality of SCARPA is to include, that of “the more the merrier”), where we organized ourselves with the guides for the next day or chatted about the one just passed while drinking beers, watching films and listening to exciting talks, and dancing like crazy at the closing party of the two days. Underlying all that can be done is a fundamental mission: to create community, to share the passion that binds those who practice these activities, from pros to enthusiasts and vice versa, through an authentic, two-way exchange.

The event tomorrow

Summing up these two days together with Eleonora Mion, communication manager at SCARPA and responsible for the event, what came out was the great desire to continue creating this space to exchange views, and to expand it more and more. Maybe the name of the event will change to open it up to more disciplines as was done this year but the core will always remain the same. There will be more participants and consequently more athletes, more mountain guides. Locations will be found that can accommodate more people, more partners will be called. All while maintaining the spirit from which it started and which is what has driven the company since its inception. The event is growing, but its values do not change.

Why Cortina

SCARPA and Cortina have a wonderful relationship that has been going on for years and has been getting tighter and tighter in recent years. For this reason, when we had to think of a location to organize this type of event, we immediately thought of the pearl of the Dolomites. It is close to the company, it is a hub for winter outdoor activities and will become more so in the run-up to the Olympics, and, without mincing words, it is a beautiful place. Furthermore, last but not least, there are the local mountain guides with whom SCARPA collaborates and without whom it is possible to organize the outdoor activities safely.

Gli ambassador

A corona dell’evento ci sono stati gli ambassador SCARPA, sia per il mondo ice climbing, che per l’alpinismo e lo sci. È la prima volta nella storia del brand che si organizza un meeting atleti aperto al pubblico e soprattutto che atleti di attività diverse abbiano la possibilità di interfacciarsi tra loro. Ma gli atleti non sono stati invitati solo per il loro nome o curriculum: in primis per il loro spirito di vivere la montagna (e la vita, in generale) in modo “diverso”, che è lo stesso spirito di SCARPA. Sono arrivati a Cortina atleti appassionati e capaci di condividere, trasversali, empatici e capaci di mettere a proprio agio le persone. Insomma, atleti che non hanno bisogno di girare con il logo del brand per portarne in giro i valori. Hanno condiviso tip per praticare gli sport, sorrisi, chiacchiere e birre con tutti i partecipanti e non si sono mai risparmiati, anche sul dance floor.
Hanno dato tanto, ma in cambio, ed è importante dirlo, hanno ricevuto tantissimo dagli appassionati che hanno scelto loro, proprio loro, per passare una giornata in montagna. Avere una persona che viene lì per te e per il tuo modo di fare quello che fai ti riempie, ti ricarica. Vedere quella luce che brilla negli occhi di chi è appassionato o di chi lo diventerà proprio perché ha passato una giornata con te, è un privilegio. È uno dei motivi per farlo.

Al prossimo anno. Ai prossimi (not only) Ice Days.