#SkiLocal - the Apennines

It all started when Francesco claimed that the Alps were longer than the Apennines, and we made a bet on it. In the end, both mountain ranges are exactly the same length (1200 km), so we had to flip a coin.

The idea for the ArroSKIcini project has been developing for a long time. The name of the project comes from Arrosticini, a class of traditional Abruzzese cuisine from the Italian region of Abruzzo. We live in Western Alps in Aosta Valley, a place where people from all over the world come to ski. We, on the other hand, wanted to go to wilder, lesser-known places where the culture of skiing we have in the Alps has not yet arrived and is limited to simple ski touring. We were in search of less facilities, less roads, less infrastructure, less everything, with lots of wilderness and delicious food. Our goal was to make these mountains better known.

In the documentary, as we walk down the streets of Rome carrying our skis, we repeat a phrase: Do you realize that from here you can be in the water in a little over an hour ... or on the snow? And we're not talking about some little village here, but the city with the most famous history in the world.

We were on the road for about twenty days. We moved around by train, plane, and car (and even by electric car!). Each day we tried to get as close as possible to the locals and when possible, give back to those local communities. We involved locals, from hut owners to skiers and from volcanological guides to scientists, and I have to say, that we always got excellent feedback and great enthusiasm from everyone.

We chose the mountains partly for their importance and partly for the aesthetics of the skiable routes; we are still skiers rather than ski mountaineers! The Corno Grande of Gran Sasso is the highest peak of the Apennines (2930 m) and it was fun to link it with the summit of Mont Blanc, which we can see from the windows of our house. We ended our trip in Sicily in the shadow of Etna Volcano (which we saw erupting in front of us!), which is the southernmost place in Italy where you can step on skis.

What we take home, is the satisfaction with which people had the pleasure to accompany us "in their backyard" and with what pride many of them opened their doors to us, the famous Greek hospitality. This pandemic made us understand how rich in versatility our country is. We should travel more within Italy to discover these corners. We will continue to travel and tell experiences like this that many adventurers like us will appreciate!