Saturday 19 May 2012 - 15.00
Grolla D’Or for the finest international alpinist achievement by an alpine guide from the Aosta Valley in the “professionals in uniform” category.
The Alpine Regiment Training Centre
For the expedition to the Antarctic by the soldiers from the High Mountain Army Group of the Alpine Regiment Training Centre: the First Officers Ettore Taufer and Giovanni Amort, Officer Elio Sganga and Corporal VFP4 Marco Farina who all reached the summit of Mount Vinson (4897m) following a traverse to the Antarctic’s highest mountain of 270 km, on skis, with no backup and on a totally new route. This experience, at the end of the International Year of the Poles was significant not just for the alpinism relevance but also for exploration and from an environmentally sustainable perspective.
The Alpine Regiment Training Centre – Military School
“Accomplishing alpinist exploits outside of Europe is fundamentally important in maintaining the instructors’ quality of teaching and for maintaining Italy as one of the main actors on the world scene of Mountain Army Training Schools”.
The Army School has been training the Alpine Regiment since 1934. It has always been a benchmark and vanguard on the international scene. Its institutional aims are: to study, organise and develop to the highest level activities and vocations in the context of the mountains, safety and efficiency, including experimentation on equipment and materials”. The Alpine Regiment Training Centre and its associates have participated in many expeditions outside Europe, starting with the conquest of Everest in 1973. This first experience was followed up by many on some of the world’s greatest mountains: Huascaran, Cotopaxi, Cho Oyu, Pick Nilkant, Huayna Potosi, Illimani, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum, Aconcagua, Mera Peak, Kilimangiaro, Daulaghiri, Annapurna, Everest, K2, Fitz Roy and Ruwenzori. The expedition is part of a long term project dedicated to expeditions outside Europe called “Over the clouds – Towards new horizons” carried out by the High Mountain Army Group of the Alpine Regiment Training Centre. This latest expedition to Mount Vinson is an important part of the wider project not just because it climbed the highest mountain in the Antarctic Continent and one of the “Seven Summits” but also due to its self reliance and environmentally sustainable perspective.
The First Officers Ettore Taufer and Giovanni Amort, Head Officer Elio Sganga and Corporal VFP4 Marco Farina crossed the 270km of polar desert separating the commercial base at Patriot Hills and the Mount Vinson base camp on skis. It took them 13 days with each man pulling a sledge loaded with 75kg of equipment for at least nine hours a day. Even though this part of the exploit was often carried out in bad visibility and the extreme temperatures typical of the Poles it didn’t stop the group making a new route on foot from Patriot Hills to Mount Vinson. The ascent that followed to the summit of Mount Vinson at 4897m started on 4th January with the four men leaving Base Camp at 2125m. Having reached 2800m on skis they proceeded to climb missing out the classic stopover at Camp 1 and heading straight for the High Camp at 3940m which they reached nine and half hours after starting off. The next day it took them just four hours to make the summit. A quick descent to Base Camp, reaching it at 19.00 local time (23.00 Italian time). Before this exploit by the Alpine Regiment Training Centre only seven Italians had ever reached the summit of Mount Vinson.
The Alpine Regiment Expedition to Mount Vinson:
First Officer Ettore Taufer – 46 years old from Trentino.
Army Alpine Guide, Alpine Guide (UIAGM), Army Academic Alpinist, Downhill and Cross Country Ski Instructor, National Alpine Rescue Team Specialist, CAI Alpinism and Ski Touring National Instructor.
First Officer Giovanni Amort - 42 years old from Trentino
Army Alpine Guide, Alpine Guide (UIAGM), Army Academic Alpinist, Downhill and Cross Country Ski Instructor, National Alpine Rescue Team Specialist, CAI Alpinism and Ski Touring National Instructor.
Officer Elio Sganga – 33 years old from Lombardy
Army Alpine Guide, prospective Alpine Guide (UIAGM), Army Snow and Avalanche Specialist.
Corporal VFP4 Marco Farina – 24 years old from the Aosta Valley
Prospective Alpine Guide (UIAGM), Army Alpinism Instructor, Army Ski Instructor.
