Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Mountain Marathon: Capturing Mezzalama Trophy Alpine Action at Over 4000 Meters

15/05/2019

Mountain marathon: Capturing Mezzalama Trophy Alpine action at over 4000 metres By Roberto Landini, Italian Correspondent

Tuesday, May 7, 2019 - 17:37

Print This Story

The Mezzalama Trophy 2019 ski mountaineering marathon in the Italian Alps was postponed for four days due to adverse weather conditions, taking place eventually on Sunday 28 April. The Mezzalama, the last race of the season on La Grande Course ski-mountaineering circuit, started from the centre of Breuil-Cervinia and finished in Gressoney-La-Trinit .

The historic race, first held in 1933, is the only one in the world that is raced over glaciers; it traverses two 4000ers, the Castor peak (4226 metres) and the Naso del Lyskamm pass. The event was followed by cameras that captured the spectacular images for Facebook Live and YouTube, plus a summary of the key phases was transmitted by Eurosport.

The organisation that takes care of the event, the Mezzalama Foundation, was among the first to create a live streaming service in 2011 and is still committed to creating a live broadcast for this important event. A production company from Trento, GiuMa Produzioni, took care of the artistic and technical realisation, relying on MediaNews production equipment.

The layout: wireless IP system and NDI production

Two cameras and a commentary journalist were connected live from the Quintino Sella refuge, which is at an altitude of 3585 metres and is situated nine kilometres away from the OB van gallery, located at the finish line in Gressoney. In the finish area there were three JVC cameras, one operating with a radio link and two on a tripod.

The point-to-point IP connection was made with a combined Silvus Technologies radio system supplied by Adcom Srl that also allowed the live intercom and the distribution of mix minus audio signals. The whole event was managed with IP technology, in order to help simplify all the coordination between the conductors in Gressoney and the one at the refuge, with video, audio and service communications.

The wireless system adopted also avoided the use of the telephone for the commentator - and the same

Mountain view looking towards Gressoney-La-Trinit

system was used for shooting from the helicopter. All video signals arrived at the mobile vehicle with low latency H265 feeds, thanks to Vitec devices, then decoded into NDI by NC1 I/O NewTek equipment. The gallery made up of a MediaNews OB van is built around NewTek equipment and operates entirely in IP (NDI). This made it possible to create a three-and-a-half hour TV broadcast with three camera streams in the finish area without problems.

The coverage range of the helicopter was several kilometres and the Silvus antennas at the refuge and on the finish line created a perfect mesh net; in fact, as soon as the helicopter intercepted the radio signals it was immediately on the net. This allowed the team to have two-way audio and to manage the production in an unconventional way, making the most of the IP network.

Roberto Musso of MediaNews said: We were able to manage everything audio, video, intercom, etc. completely avoiding conversions and connections, and were able to have the necessary remote devices online.

The Mezzalama is one of the most famous alpine skiing competitions in Europe covering 40 kilometres on foot, with skis on the feet, downhill, with crampons, descending a 3,000-metre slope and involving 900 super athletes from all nations.

Managing a production that reaches 4500 metres and involves delicate safety issues is very complex and requires a very large deployment of forces. The result for the organisers is exciting with over 22K views on YouTube and 41K on Facebook Live, and the impact of being able to have a live helicopter really allowed us to offer stunning images. The situation was really extreme, he added, as we were working with temperatures at the refuge of -12 and from 60 to 90 km per hour winds.

Mountain sport production with GiuMa and MediaNews

GiuMa is the production company that managed the realisation of this sports programme. Mario Barberi, one of the partners, told SVG Europe: We are a small but very active production company, specialised in everything related to the mountain environment and therefore also mountain sports. We have been operating from Trento since 2013 and we also produce a lot of documentaries as well as the Mezzalama Trophy.

Production gallery in the MediaNews OB van, built around NewTek NDI IP

Barberi continued: The Mezzalama Trophy is not a simple race to organise and to follow from the media point of view. We take care of the images and when we called MediaNews we were looking for someone able to bring a video link and other technical equipment at 3585 metres above sea level, or at the Quintino Sella refuge, where we sent a commentator.

Obviously it is not easy to work at these heights to deliver a video signal from the top of the mountain to the valley, at the base point in Gressoney and then redistribute it live. Also this year we wanted to engage a helicopter equipped with a Cineflex that offered live images thanks to a radio link; and even here the technical problems should not be underestimated and the radio link too had to be special.

So we planned the whole event and decided how to design the technical layout and then we applied to MediaNews to meet certain needs: that is, to transport robust signals and comment by the reporters up to a downstream gallery from which to radiate a live stream from the finish line area.

In addition to the live broadcast, we also created a version of the most important points of the race for Discovery Channel and other broadcasters and therefore we needed to have four specialised operators working on the slope, who were able to manage themselves and work at around 3500 metres.

The images were also fed to two fixed post produ
LINK: https://www.svgeurope.org/blog/headlines/mountain-marathon-capturing-m...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

30/08/2025

FCC Slightly Raises Regulatory Fees for TV Stations

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...

29/08/2025

Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight against Modern Slavery

Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...

29/08/2025

Call for entries is now open for the 19th Annual South African Film & Television Awards (SAFTAs19)

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...

29/08/2025

L3Harris Launches Counter-Unmanned Systems Initiative

L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...

29/08/2025

The CW Network Extends Pac-12 Deal Through 2030-31 Season

BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...

29/08/2025

Global FAST Channel Count Continues to Spike

NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...

29/08/2025

Harmonic Unveils New Capabilities for Its Live Sports Streaming Solution

SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...

29/08/2025

Youtube TV, Fox Settle Differences, Renew Carriage Agreement

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...

29/08/2025

Lightware MTR integration brings advanced flexibility and...

Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...

29/08/2025

Frequency Launches Studio Live - a Unified Platform to Br...

Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...

29/08/2025

Scality Day 2025 Celebrating 10 years of global innovatio...

In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...

29/08/2025

Disguise Drives New Immersive Racing Experience - F1 Box

Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+ Technology solu...

29/08/2025

Disguise Supports Fellow Entertainment Tech Leaders at IB...

Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show Disguise, the industry-leading tech...

29/08/2025

Accedo to Highlight Compose AI-Agent Enhanced Orchestration Layer

STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...

29/08/2025

Cineverse Launches Streaming Apps for In-Vehicle Video Streaming

LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...

29/08/2025

Gray Media to Simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL Games

DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...

29/08/2025

Comcast NBCU and Amazon Ink New Distribution Agreements

NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...

29/08/2025

RED Digital Cinema To Highlight Cine-Broadcast Module At IBC2025

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...

29/08/2025

Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and Highlighting Ukraine's Investment Case

29 Aug 2025 Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...

29/08/2025

Sky Sports to show more NFL games than ever as part of new rights agreement

More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025 Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...

29/08/2025

'RIV4LRIES': The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino Only on Netflix October 1

Back to All News RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...

29/08/2025

Steps ahead: RT to air inspiring documentary on 12-year-old Irish dance star

Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...

29/08/2025

TODAY WITH DAVID MCCULLAGH TO AIR ON RT RADIO 1 WEEKDAYS AT 10AM

RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...

28/08/2025

Meet the 2025 Sundance Institute Documentary Edit Residency Artists

By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...

28/08/2025

Watch These 9 Sundance Institute-Supported Documentaries That Spotlight Workers' Rights

Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...

28/08/2025

Motivational Corridos: The New Sound of Resilience in Msica Mexicana

Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...

28/08/2025

Corridos Motivadores: El Nuevo Sonido de la Resiliencia en Mxico

Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...

28/08/2025

Verano Forever Brings Myke Towers, Bele, Elena Rose, and More to Miami for an Unforgettable Latin Summer Celebration

Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...

28/08/2025

Poland Selects L3Harris Electronic Warfare System for F-16 Fleet

L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....

28/08/2025

AgileTV consolidates its technological leadership with the development of Lowi TV in Spain

Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...

28/08/2025

Craft Interview: Ken Wilkinson, Audio Engineer

Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...

28/08/2025

Fubo to Launch Fubo Sports Skinny Bundle for $56 Per Month

NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....

28/08/2025

Telestream to Launch 'Global Ingest Workflow at IBC2025

NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...

28/08/2025

Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Education

Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...

28/08/2025

TAG Strengthens Regional Presence with Appointment of Oli...

TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...

28/08/2025

DHD to Demonstrate AI-Based Voice Enhancement at IBC 2025

AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...

28/08/2025

Telefonica Servicios Audiovisuales Hit the Back of the Ne...

Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...

28/08/2025

Optical Media Anchors LiveU IQ into its On site Productio...

To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...

28/08/2025

WNED Adopts Calrec Type R console to weather any storm an...

Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...

28/08/2025

Cleeng unveils first ever free D2C subscription platform...

Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...

28/08/2025

Zixi and OKAST Partner to Power Scalable Global FAST Chan...

Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...

28/08/2025

Nixer to unveil CV1 AoIP monitoring tool to address evolv...

Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering Nixer Pro Au...

28/08/2025

Cinegy Announces Strategic Partnership with One Touch Pro...

Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...

28/08/2025

Telestream Global Ingest Workflow Powered by Vantage Open...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...

28/08/2025

Telenor partners with Broadpeak for multi-country content...

Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...

28/08/2025

24 Frames Digital goes live with Synamedia Quortex Play f...

Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...

28/08/2025

VisualOn at IBC 2025 - Whats Next in AI Powered Video Str...

Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...