BORGO SAN DALMAZZO, VALLE GESSO, VALLE STURA, VALLE VERMENAGNA
3 SKIING CHAMPIONS FROM CUNEO
Spurred on by the grandiose Alpine scenery that embraces the territory and inspired by the enchanted landscapes of the mountains they call home, three women from Cuneo have dedicated their lives to snow sports. Introducing three champions - Stefania Belmondo, Katia Tomatis and Marta Bassino - who have celebrated and promoted the beauty and emotions of skiing in all its forms.
Not to be missed
Few cross-country skiers in the world have equalled her track record. Stefania Belmondo, with her ten Olympic and thirteen World Championship medals, has risen to the top of the winter sport in a blazing career spanning more than a decade. Born and raised in the Valle Stura, Stefania held the whole of Italy on the edge of its seat when, during the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, she managed to snatch gold in the free technique cross-country race, ten years after her first Olympic success in Albertville. A great emotion for the champion from Pietraporzio and for the whole nation.
Ski touring is one of the most strenuous and complex sports practised in the winter season. But this has not stopped Katia Tomatis, from Borgo San Dalmazzo, from practising it at a competitive level. Over the years, she has won several national titles, collected World Cup podiums and a victory at the Pierra Menta, one of the most beautiful, spectacular and prestigious races in the Alps and Pyrenees. In 2021 she became the second top female ski tourer in Italy. Although Katia has been skiing in the Cuneo valleys since she was a child, her passion for skins is more recent, so much so that she gave up her job at a bank to start managing the Malinvern refuge in the Valle Stura, where she trains all year round.
A shining star of Italian skiing, Marta Bassino was born in 1996 in Borgo San Dalmazzo. Since the age of two years old, she has skied on the Alps of Cuneo, between Entracque and Limone Piemonte, showing her skills right from the start. Her many national and international titles and podiums include a gold in the giant slalom at the World Junior Championships in Jasná (2014), a bronze in the team race at the World Championships in Åre in 2019, a splendid gold in the parallel slalom in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 2021 and, above all, the World Cup in the speciality (giant slalom), won in 2021. The gold medal in Super-G also arrives in 2023. The world hopes to see this fantastic athlete grow further, with new important results for Italian and Cuneo skiing.