HISTORY OF XC SKIING IN ONE NIGHT

Cross country skiing, cultural changes and sport history
A live show on Friday 29 January
Italy's most famous ski-marathon narrates itself and its roots
Less than two months to the race on Sunday 31 January


Once upon a time, namely in 1971, the Long March got underway and since then Marcialonga keeps going and skiing strong. The marvellous alpine valleys of Val di Fiemme and Val di Fassa in the Alps have always been the house of the Italian ski-marathon and many stories have been told and written about this incredible event where sport meets culture, traditions and history as a whole.
A live multimedia show about Marcialonga and the history of XC skiing will be staged two days before the 2016 running of the ski-marathon, namely on Friday 29 January at 6pm in Ziano di Fiemme, and the show has been named 'SciVolando', a wordplay using the words 'Ski' and 'Flying' in Italian, and the word 'Sliding' turns out, as if aboard a pair of skis back through the years.
Flipping through the pages of the history book, we find out that an ancient rock carving was discovered on the remote northern island of Rodoy in the Norwegian Sea. This petroglyph depicts a person on skis, it is estimated to be over 5,000 years old and clearly shows how far back goes the history of people moving and sliding on snow and ice using skis. However, only in the XX century cross country skiing has become a sport discipline and Marcialonga undoubtedly represents Italy's most ancient and prestigious form of...marching and gliding aboard skis.  
The live event scheduled on 29 January will pair off with another event that as well as the Marcialonga ski-marathon clearly represents a crucial step in the Italian history of skiing. Alpine skiing this time, since the 3Tre Night Race in Madonna di Campiglio is one of the oldest and most glorious event of the whole World Cup series. The 3Tre event will stage its history and the history of alpine skiing on Monday 21 December in Madonna di Campiglio town centre, the day before the 2015 running of the 3Tre race.