Denis Trento: the moving memory of his friend Marco Camandona

It is rare to find people who have both incredible mountaineering skills and great communication skills as well as excellent irony and humor. Denis Trento was one of those. Someone who was really serious in the mountains, but always with great lightness and wit.

“Denis began his sports career on narrow skis. Then in 2003 I noticed him and convinced him to join the ranks of the Corrado Gex ski club and do ski mountaineering”, the mountaineer Marco Camandona, his coach at the beginning, remembers him with great affection. “In 2004 he started doing some races. He was really stubborn, determined, he knew what he was doing. One of those with the makings of a champion. At first he didn’t know how to do inversions, so one weekend I gave him some technique lessons. The next Saturday he came back doing perfect inversions! He had spent the whole week up and down the slopes of La Thuile training. Denis was like that, concentration and determination were two of his great qualities”.

Not even a year later Denis graduated world champion under 23 and from there one begins brilliant career. He gets on the podium several times in both the world championships and the most important skialp races such as the Mezzalama Trophy, the Pierra Menta, the Patrouille des Glaciers, the Tour du Rutor and the Adamello Ski Raid.

“PFor me it was one of the greatest satisfactions I have had from the many athletes I have trained”, continues Camandona. “He was very aware of his abilities and always concrete. He always put a lot of care into what he did”.

The transition from the world of racing to the real mountain world came naturally and Denis amazed everyone there too. The list of his speed climbs or his first on skis is very long: the crossing of the Jorasses in 9.30 hours, the linking of the two legendary couloirs of Petit Mont Blanc on skis, the Innominata ridge at speed, the descent of the couloir South East to the Grand Cap. Denis ran lightly up and down Mont Blanc, achieving feats with disarming humility and simplicity.

“He wanted to be an athlete in the mountain world. He faced every challenge with seriousness and awareness. Every time he went on a steep ski descent or a speed climb, he did it because he was perfectly sure of what he was doing and of his abilities.”.
Once his competitive parenthesis was over, Denis became coach, first of the national team and then of the Army Sports Centre. “He demanded a lot as a coach, he was tough but with enormous passion”. Meticulous and attentive in everything, even when he wasn’t the protagonist. “QThis year, when we decided to finally complete the long-dreamed-of stage of the Tour du Rutor which starts from La Thuile and arrives in Valgrisenche, Denis didn’t agree. He knew those places like the back of his hand and was very hesitant at the idea of ​​bringing over 700 athletes on that challenging and isolated track. He warned me several times about the potential pitfalls of the stage. On the day of the race, Denis left early in the morning, before everyone, and walked the entire stage to the top of Rutor to check that everything was OK. He was one who left nothing to chance…”

Fortunately, the stage was a success also thanks to the favorable weather conditions. “After the race Denis calls me and tells me it was a beautiful stage, you did a great thing, well done! Here you are, receiving compliments from Denis was perhaps the greatest satisfaction of that day. He certainly wasn’t one to give easy compliments, in fact sometimes he didn’t tell you at all!”

Denis Trento was a pillar of ski mountaineering and a great example of humility and passion. His exploits and his sagacious way of telling them have inspired many mountaineers and others. The profound respect and admiration that the entire mountain world felt towards her now leaves room for affectionate memories and strong condolences for her Fabienne Chanoine and their three children.

Hi Denis!