The certainties of winter on the Dolomites

There are few certainties in winter by definition. The weather and temperatures are ever-changing and uncertain so making long-term plans is always risky. However, there are some unshakeable certainties for winter sports people and fans and the Alpine Skiing World Cup, with events running from the end of October to the end of March, every year is one of them. The appointment with the Alpine Skiing World Cup on the third weekend of December in Val Gardena is always anticipated with excitement.

Another certainty of winter, this time necessary and fundamental, concerns the tyres fitted on the cars that will climb up the mountain roads to take athletes and spectators to the venues. They must guarantee uncompromising performance and safety, ensure easy handling and be tough. In short, they must be perfect. The relationship between Pirelli and winter sports is a very close one. And that is why the brand of the stretched P is sponsoring some stages of the Alpine Ski World Cup, starting with the one in Val Gardena. Since 2015, Pirelli has been one of the main partners of FISI, the Italian Winter Sports Federation. But what will happen in the Dolomites in a few days? The appointment is on the exciting, time-honoured Saslong slope, built for the unforgettable 1970 World Championships and located in Santa Cristina Valgardena, in the province of Bolzano. It is part of the Dolomiti Superski area, the largest in Italy. For the 2023 World Cup stage, the schedule has planned three events, one more than all the other years: the one on Thursday, December 14, featuring the downhill race in Zermatt/Cervinia; the one on Friday, December 15, with the Super-G; and finally, the one on Saturday, December 16, with another downhill race.

And now for the announced protagonists, another great source of excitement for Alpine skiing fans. In Val Gardena, all the greatest champions in their respective specialties participated, starting with the Swiss phenomenon Marco Odermatt, the holder of the overall World Cup (as well as those in Super-G and Giant Slalom). Also highly anticipated was the Norwegian Aleksander Kilde, winner of the Downhill World Cup one year ago. And the Italians? The Italian national team is led by Mattia Casse, coming off three podium finishes in 2023, marking the best year of his career, and Dominik Paris, who secured victory in the last stage with a time of 1'59"84, surpassing the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde by 44 hundredths. Completing the podium, meanwhile, was the American Bryce Bennett.

To win a race like those held in Val Gardena, in the marvelous setting of the Saslong track, the athletes had to tap into immense and varied values. They will need to exploit all their talent, physical training and competitiveness to challenge risks and constantly push to go beyond their limits. However, innovation, technology and awareness of one's possibilities are equally crucial on snow. These are all aspects that connect Pirelli's industrial approach to that of the great champions of Alpine skiing, always in search of higher performance. It is also a question of knowledge that becomes experience: Pirelli has always had a very close relationship with winter and the mountains, and it is no chance that we are talking about a company that is a leader in the original equipment of winter tyres and that competes in rallies on the most challenging surfaces making the products accessible to everyone. Just like the ski slopes, at least the most difficult and exciting ones.

Marco Tronchetti Provera, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President of Pirelli said some time ago that “winter products are fundamental for our company. And it's not just about marketing. It is a matter of shared values, of the closeness between the Pirelli brand and snow sports”. There, that's the point: Pirelli is once again sponsoring the Alpine Skiing World Cup stages, starting in Val Gardena, because these are important, top-level events, but also because they are representative of a competitive universe close to the essence of the brand, to its idea of sport as a competitive, innovative, future-oriented environment. After all, this is also safety.