Marmotta Trophy

The Marmotta Trophy: World-class ski mountaineering in Val Martello

The Marmotta Trophy is one of the most prestigious ski mountaineering competitions in Italy and Europe. Established in 2008 as a benchmark event for South Tyrolean ski mountaineering, it takes place annually in Val Martello, a side valley of the Val Venosta that cuts into the Ortles-Cevedale massif within the Stelvio National Park. The event is organized by the Martello 3B Cooperative Community in the municipality of Martello/Martell, in the province of Bolzano, in the heart of the Trentino-Alto Adige region.

An ISMF World Cup stage

Since 2011, the Marmotta Trophy has been a fixture on the ISMF World Cup (International Ski Mountaineering Federation) calendar and has hosted the premier international competition multiple times. The valley's snows have seen the world's strongest ski mountaineers from over a dozen nations—including Swiss, French, Spanish, Austrian, and Italian athletes—face off. The races rotate through various ski mountaineering disciplines: the individual race, the mixed relay, and the sprint, each featuring skinning climbs, boot-packing sections with skis on backpacks, and technical descents.

The Grogg Biathlon Center: The heart of the action

The event's headquarters is the Grogg Biathlon Center, located at the end of Val Martello, which allows spectators to follow every phase of the race closely: the starts, the steepest climbs, the transitions, and the final sprints. The facility, also dedicated to biathlon, offers a natural grandstand, perfect for soaking up the unique atmosphere of high-altitude ski mountaineering.

The Lasa marble trophy

The award that gives the competition its name is a trophy carved from Lasa marble, the famous white marble extracted in the nearby Val Venosta, known as one of the finest in the world. Presenting the marble marmot to the winners has become a ritual that inextricably links the race to the local territory and its artisanal traditions.

An event in the Stelvio National Park

Racing in the Marmotta Trophy means testing oneself against one of the most spectacular alpine landscapes in the Italian Alps, surrounded by glaciers, coniferous forests, and peaks exceeding three thousand meters. Val Martello is a beloved destination for ski mountaineers, hikers, and mountain enthusiasts, and during the race days, it transforms into an international meeting point for the ski mountaineering world.