Skiing is his passion, and for 40 years he's organized competitions for masters athletes, but in the early 2000s, Bergamo native Guido Vaini took up residence in Stintino. From snow to sun and sea: "Almost all the winter projects are born here in Sardinia," explains the Lombard journalist and entrepreneur, who created, the first in Italy, an over-50 circuit that boasts numerous sponsors, including some island companies.
Challenge or gamble, the project kicked off in January. It was a full-time month, with frenetic contact with companies, institutions, technicians and coaches, agreements, and partnerships. The project took shape, grew, and the athletes liked it. By the end of the summer, a very strong team had emerged: nearly eighty athletes had decided to join Ski Mountain - The Master Team, the sports club founded in Bergamo in 1989, and since then presided over by the Stintino-born President.
The stated goal is the Coppa Italia, the trophy awarded to the strongest of the 70 participating teams, which competes in 20 races in mountains across the country—giant slalom, slalom, and super-G. According to her, there has never been a Masters team for those aged 30 and over, excluding athletes competing in the national teams with the Military Corps, so large and of such high quality; the team has athletes in every age category, from 30 to 85, and a dozen athletes with great ambitions are ready to go.
"And in case of victory," Guido Vaini promises, "we will toast not with champagne but with Vermentino and Cannonau."