Over 300 competitors at the start from Tonalina

The Adamello Ski Raid, a stage of the prestigious international ski mountaineering circuit La Grande Course, is ready to light the fuse of its ninth edition, which will start on Saturday morning at 6 am from Tonalina, in the Pontedilegno – Tonale ski consortium. An event, which takes place in the formula for couples, with undisputed charm, thanks to the spectacular nature and technicality of the places that the 150 couples, for a total of 300 members from 16 nations, will face along the high-altitude route that has a development of 39 km and 3,115 meters of positive difference in altitude, therefore 3455 in negative, with arrival in the tourist center of Ponte di Legno.

The Adamello Ski Team Organizing Committee has awarded bib number 1 to the winners of the last edition of 2023, highlighting that this event takes place every two years. These are Matteo Eydallin from Salice D’Ulzio, Piedmont, and Robert Antonioli from Valfurva, Valtellina. Bib number 2 will be worn by the strong French, fresh from their victory at Pierra Menta, William Bon Mardion and Xavier Gachet, then 3 was assigned to the Italian pair formed by William Boffelli from Roncobello, Bergamo, and Alex Oberbacher from Gardena. Bib number 4 was assigned to the French Samuel Equy and Anselme Damevin, and 5 to the two civilians from the La Sportiva team Nadir Maguet (from Torgnon, Valle d’Aosta) and Federico Nicolini (from Molveno, Trentino). Also interesting from a competitive point of view is the presence of the Austrian team with Christian Hoffmann and Armin Hoefl and the pair from China 1 with Ming Li and Kaixiang Wang. The name of the winning pair will surely emerge from this group of athletes. In the women's category, ranking in hand, there are three couples who will fight for the final victory, namely the French team composed of Lorna Bonnel and Perrine Gindre, then the two Italians Giulia Compagnoni and Lisa Moreschini, and with a question mark the team formed by the Czech Marcela Vasinova and the Austrian Bianca Somavilla. And there will also be a mixed category with 8 couples at the gate. In the meantime, the staff of the orange jackets of the Adamello Ski team have completed the procedures of tracing and securing the race course, which presents itself in excellent snow conditions at high altitude. The queen of the race will be Cima Venerocolo, from which you can admire the suggestive north face of the Adamello, then the other significant passages at Cresta Croce near the cannon of the Great War and with the difficulties, but at the same time the spectacularity, of the passage on the ridge, which this year will also be equipped safely with a rope. In addition, the athletes will tackle the Tre Denti pass, the Pisgnanino glacier and the final descent towards the centre of Ponte di Legno. The only new feature about halfway along the route is the return of the evocative Ski Raid canal, which however will be uphill.
The other new feature of the 2025 edition concerns the debut of the Adamello Ski Raid Experience. This is a different format dedicated to enthusiasts, hikers and amateurs who do not like to deal with the stopwatch, but who, at the same time, do not want to give up on treating themselves to a day in the mountains in safety, in the setting of one of the top ski mountaineering events. The route of the Experience event will be about 16 kilometres long, will have an uphill difference in altitude of around 600 metres (2,400 metres downhill) and will involve overcoming mountaineering difficulties.
On Saturday 5 April the opening of the starting grids in Tonalina is scheduled for 5 am, then at 6 am the start of the men's and women's races, again from Tonalina. For the public who want to follow the passages at high altitude, the ski lift company has decided to open with free access the cable car that goes from Passo del Tonale to Passo Presena from 5.30 to 6.30. The arrival of the first teams is scheduled for around 10.30 am, then the awards ceremony at the Palazzo dello Sport in Ponte di Legno around 2 pm.
A live update of the progress of the race is scheduled on the Adamello Ski Raid social profiles (Facebook and Instagram), while from a media point of view a 30-minute summary is scheduled on RaiSport Hd in the days following the event.