5 SUMMITS - 1 RECORD

FIRST STAGE: OULX (1100 m) - SAFETY MOUNT (2926 m): 6 KM - 1826 D +

All the difficulties of the challenge, which I feared so much, did not take long to arrive. After I left the village of Oulx I started to run. On the path I certainly did not have one of my strongest points. This stage was one of the hardest regarding mileage and difference in altitude. I didn´t feel the best and I was tired.

Along the first couloir leading to the top of Mount Seguret, when the slope is between 50% and 60%, the effort became insistent and I began to realize that I have to fight for another four days. My mind couldn't think of anything else but the exertion. Those were very hard moments. I tried to convince myself not to think about it anymore. I promised myself to focus only on the present and face up day by day, step by step. Then I saw the peak, I reached it and found the man, who inspired and taught me so much. My father, who despite his age has challenged the 1,800 meters of altitude to encourage and support me. What a great father!

Thinking of him and my wife Emily, I managed to reach the goal of the first stage within 1 hour and 21 minutes. I needed 2 minutes longer than my personal best time is, but that was not important in this moment because there was still a long distance waiting for me.

THIRD STAGE: SAUZE D’OULX (1509 M) - MONTE GENEVRIS (2536 M): 3.2 KM - 1027 D +

I didn´t have an easy night. The fatigue and the efforts of the first two days kept me from resting properly. On the next morning I tried not to think about the bad night and started to warm up. I realized that my engine is there and that I will have another great day. And it couldn't have gotten any worse, because along my way many people cheered me on. There were the guys from the Sauze Ski Club and all the kids my sister Elisabetta takes care of in her baby parking. They shouted, incited me, chased me and charged me. Their enthusiasm spurred me and I believed to fly. I reached the historic lighthouse on the top: I pushed myself and when I arrived, I read 37 minutes and 34 seconds! I looked up at the sky: it was an intense blue as I have rarely seen it. I did the same time a month and a half ago. I thought that our potential can surprise us sometimes.

FOURTH STAGE: GRANGE DELLA VALLE (1850 M) - MONTE NIBLE (3365 M): 6 KM - 1515 D +

When I arrived near the glacier I stopped to put on the crampon. For changing the crampon I needed only a few seconds, which is enough time to take a little breath and to take a quick look at the watch. This was another day of a good shape. Who would have ever said this after 4 days? I would never have thought of it, or at least not at this day, considering the feeling of weakness that pervaded me as soon as I started running. Who knows where all these energies come from; it is as if I hadn't done anything in the previous days. I stopped thinking and started running. I was fast, even on the technical track. I reached the top, stopped the time and smiled: 1 hour, 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Personal record lowered. One is missing. Only one is missing.

I´ve always had a certain attraction to records, especially towards those who contemplate mountains. I was born in the mountains of the Val di Susa. I grew up watching them, listening to them and studying them until I decided to challenge them (... even if it´s better to say: caress them). I wanted to do something important; therefore I needed a motivation that pushed me beyond my limits. And I wanted to do something good. Not only for me, also for others.

So the 5 Summits - 1 Record challenge was born, which started on the 29th of July and ended on the 2nd of August. A race that brings me along five different climbs for a total of 26 kilometers uphill and 7,000 meters in altitude. I did this in record time (total time), but like any record it has a relative value, as long as someone else cannot beat it. What remains of this challenge is our support for the crowdfunding campaign Helping Children to Smile on the "Gofundme.com" platform to support the care of children suffering from rare diseases. Business, mountain, charity: I did not need anything else!

SECOND STAGE: CLAVIERE (1760 M) - MONTE CHABERTON (3131 M). 6KM, 1371 D +

The alarm was set to 6 o´clock, fast breakfast, a greeting to Emily, a few minutes of warming up and departure at 08.30 am. The same routine that has been taking place for more than a week now but only this time with more worries, due to the heavy exertion of the day before. I knew that my Dad, Nicolas, Alberto and many others are already on the way, ready to support me. I felt good despite some sore muscles from the day before. On this day my thoughts were positive; I didn´t feel the fatigue anymore. I arrived at the summit in 57 minutes and 49 seconds, below what I was expecting. Personal record and mountain record lowered by more than two minutes compared to the one established 30 years ago. I returned to the valley where cryotherapy was waiting for me. The 85 minus degrees exhausted me, but I knew that it was very important for the next morning. In the evening when I was in bed, I relived the day in my mind: my heart was full of joy. I was more determined and focused than ever.

FIFTH STAGE: SESTRIERE (2035 m) - MT. ROGNOSA (3280 m): 3.5 Km - 1245 D +

I knew that I should eat something so my energy wouldn´t run out, but every attempt was useless. I was so tired that I barely could get out of the car and the air was so cold on this morning. I didn´t even warm up and then I was leaving with a thousand thoughts and the fear of failing, but I kept telling myself that I can’t give up now. Not at this point. Not after all the effort made. We all need a last effort, and inside of me, I knew I can do it: I could feel it. After the first flat kilometer the effort turned into that "beautiful effort", the one that makes you fly. I arrived at the summit in 57 minutes and 9 seconds. They told me that I did it with a time of 4: 58'43. I carried out my challenge, this dream. They told me. They repeated it. However, I still didn’t believe it.

When I sit down and think about what I did and see that "my little madness" was dreamed, faced and realized, then I can't help thinking of all those who supported me in this adventure and who have been with me step by step, meter by meter, peak after peak. It is to all of them, who have been by my side in every single moment of these 4 hours, 58 minutes and 43 seconds, to whom I am infinitely grateful.