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
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
How Chris Bolte Builds the Sound of PlayStation Games Chris Bolte '16 is a technical sound designer at Sucker Punch Productions, where he helps create the...
18/03/2026
Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4.
Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...
18/03/2026
SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...
18/03/2026
The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...
18/03/2026
(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...
18/03/2026
Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville
Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...
18/03/2026
Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded
Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...
18/03/2026
Mix-reference plug-in overhauled
iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...
18/03/2026
Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives
Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...
18/03/2026
Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture
18 March, 2026
Media releases
New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...
18/03/2026
Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...
18/03/2026
London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...
18/03/2026
SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations
Brie Clayton March 18, 2026
0 Comments
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...
18/03/2026
Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K
Brie Clayton March 18, 2026
0 Comments
LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...
18/03/2026
Brainstorm transforms productivity and sustainability with Suite 7 at NAB Show 2...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, today unveiled its educational presentations for the 2026 NAB Show. This year SMPTE will ...
18/03/2026
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, gaming, and more, today ann...
18/03/2026
Digital Alert Systems
Preview
2026 NAB Show
April 19 - 22
Booth C3452
At the 2026 NAB Show, Digital Alert Systems will showcase Version 6.0 of its DASDEC ...
18/03/2026
Setplex today announced that it will showcase its complete, fully integrated Zapflex platform for the first time at the 2026 NAB Show, introducing powerful new ...
18/03/2026
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES TO THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION THAT QUALIFIED OR MAY HAVE QUALIFIED AS INSIDE INFORMATION WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 7(1) OF THE ...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking DP for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Director of Photography for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy Feature Film- I...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Location, Sound for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Location/Sound for Low Budget Dramed...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Film - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...
18/03/2026
Calrec Redefines Broadcast Workflows at NAB 2026 with its Most Powerful Hardware...
18/03/2026
Oscar Nominated Two People Exchanging Saliva Posted with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio handle...
18/03/2026
Boston Conservatory Presents Celebrated Musical Satire Urinetown Performances for this Center Stage production will take place at Boston Conservatory Theater ...
18/03/2026
Charlie Puth Joins Switched on Pop at Berklee NYC The Berklee alum spoke with host and Berklee NYC professor Charlie Harding for a live taping, answering audi...
18/03/2026
X-Rite Pantone Demonstrates Advanced Color Management Solutions to Support Smart...
18/03/2026
Wednesday 18 March 2026
BAFTA winner James McAvoy to star in Sky Original serie...
18/03/2026
Wednesday 18 March 2026
Sky Sports and Zuffa Boxing announce multi-year agreement for the UK and Ireland
Sky Sports and Zuffa Boxing have announced a new mult...
18/03/2026
Wednesday 18 March 2026
Sky Unveils Poster and Trailer for Original Feature Fil...
Mountain marathon: Capturing Mezzalama Trophy Alpine action at over 4000 metres By Roberto Landini, Italian Correspondent 
