MAMMUT® presents: the biggest peak project in history – "The Zuitas™" did it!

24-25/08/2012 – Mt. Civetta (3220 m), Via Ferrata “Alleghesi” (III-/AD-), “Viva Mexico Cabrones” (VII+/VIII-). More on http://ale-santuz.blogspot.com/
Our tour has been selected between more than 2000 other projects and we have been one of the 150 teams that took part in the biggest peak project history fully supported by MAMMUT®!
The Zuitas™ are:
  • Alessandro “Ale” Santuz
  • Nicolas “Conne” Bellomo
  • Alberto “Ray” Vianello
  • Enrico “Gere” Geremia
  • the mountain guide Andrea Vanni.

The name of the team recalls the most famous quote from Emilio Comici: “Perché Zuita? Perché la incanta!” (tr.: “Why Civetta? Because she charms!”, where “Civetta”, the name of the mount, means “Owl”).
All the other posts about the project:

MAMMUT® presents: the biggest peak project in history – "The Zuitas™" wait for better conditions.

These are bad days for Italy. The weather has something insane: the South is totally at the mercy of the weather, tons of snow are falling since the beginning of February and thousands of people are in serious troubles. Up North, though, the conditions are embarrassingly dry and the low quantities of snow are not a suitable aid for a winter ascent of Monte Civetta (for the forgetful or the new followers, here you can find the description of the tour). Our Mammut official guide explained that “the weather forecast for the next two weeks and the current conditions (windy snow and ice) do not permit the climb in a safe way”.
Total amount of snowfalls @ 1900 m – Monte Civetta.
The snow amount is really poor, but the risk of spontaneous avalanches remains considerable in the exposed areas over 2000 m (never forget to take a look at the avalanche survival curve in any case).
Air temperature @ 1900 m – Monte Civetta.
It seems that we can’t do anything else but waiting for better conditions (and hoping for some additional snow to help us in the ascent). The team will continue his training in any case (have you ever tried to run at 4000 m?) and all the updates will be published here.
In the picture below you can find today’s weather forecast for the next 15 days: the red line shows the mean temperatures in the last 30 years at around 1500 m, while the other lines show the various predictions of  the different mathematical models (left “y” scale, [° C]); the very low curves are the predictions of the precipitations (right “y” scale, [mm] of rain or [cm] of snow).
Weather forecast for the next two weeks (GFS model).
Don’t forget to take a look at the official team’s page for further details.
The Zuitas™

MAMMUT® presents: the biggest peak project in history – "The Zuitas™" are planning their tour.

It’s official: our tour has been selected between more than 2000 other projects and we are now part of the 150 teams that will take part in the biggest peak project history! From 10th to 12th February 2012 our team, composed by 5 of us plus a mountain guide, will attempt the summit of Monte Civetta (3220 m) from two different routes:
  1. the first team, composed by Alessandro “Ale” Santuz, Nicolas “Nikla” Bellomo, Alberto “Ray” Vianello and the mountain guide, will ascend through the “Alleghesi” route, that in summer is a via ferrata of medium difficulty (it’s classified III-/AD-), but in winter could become far tougher (if the conditions won’t be enough dry, the Normal Route can become a safest alternative);
  2. the second team, composed by Enrico “Gere” Geremia and another expert climber, will attempt the summit through the magnificent NW wall, through a route of outstanding beauty, named “Viva Mexico Cabrones”, opened from Venturino de Bona in 2001, counting just a summer repetition from Alessandro Baù and Enrico Marini and no winter repetitions.
The meeting of the two teams on the top will greatly celebrate the adventure, hopefully in the days planned (weather forecasts will make the final decision).
Mammut (http://www.mammut.ch) has provided us with a great clothing-set: GORE-TEX® Paclite Shell® 2-Layer Jacket (the Rainier Jacket), a pair of trekking pants (the Fiamma Pants) and a 30l backpack (the Taranaki 30), everything from the Summer 2012 collection.


We’ll also have the chance to record the ascent with this wonderful HD-GPS camera (the Gobandit GPS HD Action Cam), again provided by Mammut:

Stay tuned and visit our official Mammut page to know all the details!

ARE:
Alessandro “Ale” Santuz 
Enrico “Gere” Geremia
Nicolas “Conne” Bellomo
Alberto “Ray” Vianello

MAMMUT® presents: the biggest peak project in history – PHASE 3 "The Zuitas™" team has been selected!

Thanks again to your fundamental support, the team has been selected! Now we can proudly dress our owl with the MAMMUT® logo and make her look at the top of our charming and massive mountain, the Monte Civetta! We have no official data, but we suspect that this is the first time MAMMUT® dresses an animal ;).

The new logo, after the selection.

For the forgetful people and for the new followers, the old logo appeared like that:
The old logo.
Thank you all again for the support and now…finger crossed for the climb! You can take a look at our team page by clicking HERE: you will find a detailed tour description and the profiles of the team members, together with the explanation of the project. The tour dates are being decided in these days, so stay tuned for the updates!

MAMMUT® presents: the biggest peak project in history – PHASE 2 "The Zuitas™" team is now complete!

Thanks to your essential support, the team is now complete! From this moment we just need to wait and try to convince the Mammut’s panel of experts until the selection will be over. The tours will be selected one after the other up until September 2011. There is therefore no set deadline. As soon as the jury decides in favour of a tour, the status of the team changes to “Selected”.
Thank you all for the support and now…finger crossed for the final PHASE 3! You can take a look at our team page by clicking HERE: you will find a detailed tour description and the profiles of the team members.


ARE:

Alessandro “Ale” Santuz
Katrina “Mina” Meyer
Alberto “Ray” Vianello
Enrico “Gere” Geremia
Nicolas “Nikla” Bellomo