Gabriele: the technical skill of the descent
Ski mountaineering is also a family matter for Gabriele Leonardi, 24 years old from Caderzone in Val Rendena, who as a child would go up the mountain with his father, manager of the San Giuliano nell'Adamello mountain hut and who now runs the Brentei mountain hut with other family members, in the heart of the Brenta Alps.
When you are born into a family like this, you can't ignore the call of the mountain. Leonardi preferred high altitude to the football pitches in the valley, but also to the cross-country and alpine ski slopes. “A land where you gauge yourself on your abilities and you can only count on yourself,”, he says.
Now he is competing for the Italy Cup. "In the world of ski mountaineering, I found an environment of authenticity, healthy competitive spirit, where rivalry and ambition have not ruined relationships, as it should be in the mountains. It's a difficult sport, where your achievements are the result of personal commitment and your skills". Just like in life.
And for him too, the environment is of the utmost importance. “Ski mountaineering is exploration. We always train in different places. We reach new heights, in a territory that changes with the seasons and where fatigue is not a burden. Indeed, it becomes pleasurable, just like the immense satisfaction of reaching the finish line".
If during the climb there is the joy of conquest, Gabriele Leonardi still prefers the technical skill of the descent, “also because I'm good at it”, he smiles, ambassador of a sport that is becoming trendier and that in 2026 will become an Olympic event at the Milan-Cortina winter games.
"There is an increasing desire to be in touch with nature”, he explains, “no schedules, not rushing, just with a pair of skis on your feet". There is no point in asking a boy from the mountains which are his favourite slopes because, after skiing all over the world, his heart always returns to the peaks of his home, on the Brenta and Adamello, where his family's mountain huts are.
