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...
02/03/2026
NBC Sports selected Imaginary Forces to create the main title sequence for the M...
02/03/2026
The NFL announces the launch of the NFL Draft Innovation Challenge, a new crowds...
02/03/2026
The World Teleport Association (WTA) has named Skyline Communications' DataMiner SatOps solution as a finalist for the 2026 Teleport Technology of the Year ...
02/03/2026
Ventum Tech announces a strategic partnership with Pixotope, a real-time graphic...
02/03/2026
Victory , a free, ad-supported sports streaming service, announces the launch of...
02/03/2026
Global powerhouse Delta Goodrem to represent Australia at this year's Eurovi...
02/03/2026
SBS brings together prominent voices to discuss rising social division and seek ...
02/03/2026
NITV Unveils Wednesday Night Sport Night
Media releases
A Midweek Hub for Blak Sport
Flagship NRL program Over The Black Dot moves to Wednesdays at 9:30pm
...
02/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates FR1-FR3 carrier aggregation, advancing 6G readiness Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. have reached another pivotal ...
02/03/2026
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 2, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) today announc...
02/03/2026
Harvey Norman tops New Zealand's biggest ad spenders as retail leads and telcos and beverages sure Auckland March 3, 2026 - Nielsen's New Zealand'...
02/03/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, and Arqit Quantum Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQQ, A...
02/03/2026
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, has appointed Jody Boatwright as Chief Strategy Of...
02/03/2026
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, is reinforcing its commitment to simplifying complex AV environments with the continued evolution of its TPN...
02/03/2026
ZEISS Cinema opens its doors to an exclusive screening, filmmakers Q&A and hands-on showcase of the new ZEISS Aatma lens family on Tuesday, March 10, 6:00-9:00 ...
02/03/2026
To expand the creative potential of the compact Astera QuikBeam, DoPchoice introduces the SNAPBAG Round. The new light-shaping accessory transforms the powerfu...
02/03/2026
Douglas Dubler
On a rooftop in New York City, veteran photographer Douglas Dubler watched the sun's angle shift across the urban landscape, his internal cl...
02/03/2026
ZEISS is expanding its Otus ML lens family with the introduction of the new ZEISS Otus ML 1.4/35. This manual-focus lens is designed for photographers who live ...
02/03/2026
Matthews Studio Equipment now offers the new Dinkum Systems White FlexiMount and Phone Mount Kit, a compact, highly adaptable setup for mobile content creation...
02/03/2026
Luxembourg, February 26, 2026 - SES and Africa Mobile Network (AMN) have expande...
02/03/2026
02 03 2026 - Media release Ausfilm and Screen Australia launch joint UK market initiative
Ausfilm and Screen Australia have announced Partner with Australia (...
02/03/2026
Monday 2 March 2026
Saturday Night Live UK announces writing team
L-R: Jonno Johnson; Charlie Skelton; Celya AB; Omar Badawy; Gr inne Maguire; Laura Claxton; ...
02/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer for 53 Sundays, the New Film by Cesc Gay
Entertainment
02 March 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Dis...
28/02/2026
With two features seen in Formula 1 coverage, the broadcaster aims to bring view...
28/02/2026
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addresses a crowd of approximately 1,500 L3Harris employees in Camden, Arkansas, as part of his Arsenal of Freedom tour....
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Berklee Presents Mambo Mania: Eguie Castrillo and the Berklee All-Stars Big Band...
28/02/2026
Berklee Announces Two New Summer Programs in Los Angeles The Berklee Music Business Program and Electronic Music Production and Sound Design Workshop bring imme...
28/02/2026
AI-RAN is moving from lab to field, showing that a software-defined approach is ...
28/02/2026
Autonomous networks - intelligent, self-managing telecommunications operations -...
28/02/2026
Back to All News
Final Trailer for BEASTARS Final Season Part 2' Roars Tow...
28/02/2026
New way to intentionally discover molecular glues could expand drug discovery Scripps Research scientists and colleagues show how drugs that eliminate certain d...
27/02/2026
The E.W. Scripps Company names Oliver Gray as Vice President, Network Sports and...
27/02/2026
The Gotham Sports App, the exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming home of MSG Networks and the YES Network, is now available for purchase through Prime Video fo...
27/02/2026
ESPN and the Horizon League announce a new multi-year, multi-platform media rights agreement, continuing a 38-year collaboration that began with the 1988 Midwes...
27/02/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, NETGEAR will highlight its new switch models and major updates to its Engage Controller software. The company's network d...
27/02/2026
Riedel Communications announces that Fondazione Teatro alla Scala has deployed a...
27/02/2026
Lyuno specializes in media localization, including translation, dubbing, subtitling, and voice-over services for a wide array of entertainment content. The comp...
27/02/2026
Chyron Weather 2.3, the latest edition of Chyron's weather visualization suite for broadcasters and meteorologists, recently launched.
The release includes...
27/02/2026
Telestream, which concentrates in media workflow technologies, announces expanded practical AI enhancements across its Vantage, Vantage Cloud, EDC, Stanza, and ...
Mountain marathon: Capturing Mezzalama Trophy Alpine action at over 4000 metres By Roberto Landini, Italian Correspondent 
