Winter is synonymous with snow-capped peaks, aerial ridges and steep off-piste descents. Winter is synonymous with La Grande Course. Once the turning point has been completed with an exciting Mezzalama Trophy, the circuit of the most beautiful and representative races in the Alps and the Pyrenean range is preparing to crown the king and queen of the 4th edition.

The testing ground, for the best practitioners of the specialty and for all those who train an entire winter ahead of the “great classic races”, will be four epic stages, to say the least.

Raising the curtain will be the Altitoy Ternua scheduled for the weekend of 7-8 March. The two-day Pyrenean event, designed on well-known peaks made legendary by cycling duels at the Tour de France, is already accepting registrations and will shortly offer ad-hoc packages for ski mountaineers who will have to travel by air.

Raising the bar will be The Millet Tour du Rutor Extrême. In this case the first date to be saved in the agenda is 16 December, when the secretary of the Corrado Gex Ski Club will officially open registrations… and make no mistake, everyone will be a racing to get their number. To better celebrate the 20th edition of the TDR, Marco Camandona and his staff will propose an extreme four days in name and in fact with an unprecedented prologue on the slopes of La Thuile. A unique opportunity to experience a historic event in person, but with a modern twist.

April will also be characterised by two top events: the recovery of the Adamello Ski Raid and the final at the Patrouille des Glaciers. After the heavy snowfalls of last winter that forced the Adamello Ski Team management to cancel the 2019 edition due to security reasons, on Saturday 18 April, precious points for the ranking will be assigned on the border mountains between Lombardy and Trentino.

As per tradition, the king and queen will be crowned in Verbier at the end of an exhausting alpine ride at night of 57.5 km 4386 mD+. The PDG 2020 will take place on the night between 30 April and 1 May and will also award the LGC World Championship 2020. The first men’s and women’s teams can claim to be the strongest in the world over long distances.

Sponsors of these great classic races are Buff & Comina, prestigious brands for prestigious events.

INFO: La Grande Course