Ottorino Mezzalama

He was a good friend of the Swiss engineer Adolfo Kind and of the artillery Lieutenant Luciano Roiti, who published "Delle marce sulla neve" (Italian for about marching on snow), a paper about ski mountaineering in the army.

Together with his later friend Pietro Ghiglione, a mountain climber and writer, he served in the 3rd Alpini Regiment.

Additionally he explored the Alps on ski and amongst others, he took part in the first Italian complete Mont Blanc ski-run in 1927.

Mezzolama was one of the volunteers, who took part in a search and rescue action, after an avalanche descended in the Rochemolles Valley upside the Bardonecchia in 1931.

...with his long, gangly gait which never betrayed any signs of fatigue or the difficulty of the ascent, he walked with all that equipment on, which made him resemble a soldier on fatigue; every so often he would raise his eyes calmly upwards and his pointed moustache added an almost dated touch of warmth to his thin, dark face.Mezzalama and Domenico Mazzocchi were overtaken by a thunderstorm on the peak of the Bicchiere, and were urged to stay in the frosty "Elena" Hut (today: "Rifugio Gino Biasi") for three days.