NOT YETIS BUT SNOWMEN

NOT YETIS BUT SNOWMEN

gianni

Yes, we are back with a new interview to discover something more about the cable car, and the characters who normally live in it.
Even if we spend most of our days on this incredible glacier, we have never met a yeti, but some snowmen yes, those we have met, and we have talked to one of them right today.

He goes up and down ceaselessly on the slopes to make sure that the skiers can have fun in total security, and that no avalanche is waiting for them behind the corner.

This is his interview:

  • Name

Giovanni (better known as Gianni Ed.).

  • Surname

Caronti.

  • Age

57 years old.

  • Nickname on the Marmolada

Si va! (Ed. “Gianni, how are the slopes today? We go! We go!” – The explanation was absolutely necessary).

  • Where do you come from?

I’m for a half from Lombardia, and for the other half from Veneto.

  • For how many years have you been working here on the Marmolada?

Since Winter season 2003/2004, so 14 years yet.

  • How did you arrive here?

I was already working in the security sector for the slopes in Valle d’Aosta, and when I moved to the Dolomites, I looked for a similar job and I found it here on the Marmolada.

  • In what does it consist your job as responsible for the slopes?

I have three main tasks on this cableway, the first one is to keep every day an eye on the opening and closure of the slopes. Then, I have to check also the security of the slopes, the signage and everything is involved with security and the every day life on the slopes. For example, when there is fog or bad weather conditions, we improve the signage (turn signale, poles, ecc.). It’s very important also to control the efficiency of the fixed nets, which have to be free from fresh snow. The third, and probably my more important task is to supervise avalanches, which can happen after huge snow falls. This kind of problem happens on average two or three times per season, but it’s always better, in case of huge snow falls, to go on place and have the necessary evaluations, possibly in the early morning with the snow cats drivers. The evaluations can be done thanks to one’s own experience, gained during the years of experience in the sector, but also consulting the weather forecasts, to learn when it will snow again, the level of temperatures, the direction and the intensity of wind. Also important is to calculate how much fresh snow is there.

  • What do you like about your job? What do you dislike?

This job is my passion, I love to be outside, breathing fresh air and moving continuously, even if there are bad weather conditions, I don’t suffer particularly. For this reason, I can’t find anything negative to say about it, because it gives me a lot of satisfaction.

  • Is the job you have always wanted to do, even when you were a kid?

My dream was to be a mountain guide and I achieved it. I’ve always wanted to do a job, which could gave me the opportunity to stay in open air and possibly in the mountains. Here, I do that, so my job is both my passion and my dream job.

  • In those years, did it happen a comic episode that it is still making you laugh?

There are a lot of questions that they did to me and still today they are making me smile, for example if they need chains to go up to Punta Rocca or when they are in Serauta and they ask me if they have to go down to go up.

  • With whom do you have to relate more on the cable car?

I have a colleague with whom I work on the ski slope (this year is Andrea Ed.), and with whom I am constantly in contact because of the security issue. Then, I have to relate with Serauta station master, which is normally Renato, with the head of department Patrick, and with the cable car director, Luciano.

  • In your opinion, which is Marmolada strength? Which is its weakness?

Marmolada strength is certainly its uniqueness. It has the only glacier in the Dolomites, and it’s Dolomites highest peak. Thanks to this, it guarantees an unrivalled landscape to every visitor. Concerning the weakness, I don’t think it has one, but it would be great to be able to widen the range of Skiing activities, unless the security is compromised.

  • What would you like to say to people reading the blog?

We do anything we can to offer you great fun and pleasure of skiing, so I would be honestly happy if you all will come to visit us.

We would like to thank our Gianni for this funny chat we had, it’s always a pleasure to talk with our responsible for the ski slopes. If near the dictionary entry “positivity” there should be a picture, we suggest to the Cambridge Dictionary to use one of Gianni, it will work better than any word, promised!

A frozen “hello” from the Marmolada, and most of all from your team of cable car storytellers.

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