The mountains of the upper valley were the natural habitat of the guide and multiple ski mountaineering champion Denis Trento. There, in particular on the Mont Blanc massif, he had achieved notable mountaineering feats. There, last Friday, i his eyes closed forever before that panoramawhile climbing Mount Paramont, above La Salle, where the 41-year-old on duty at the Courmayeur Army Sports Center lived with his wife Fabienne and children Sévérine, Gregory And Gilbert.
This afternoon, Monday 6 May, looking for them from the churchyard of San Cassiano, which hosted the last farewell to the mountaineer, those peaks were inscrutable. Covered by a blanket of low clouds, from which torrential rain was coming down. More than one of the many present he read it as a sort of modesty of creationfollowing the wave of despair in which Trento’s death plunged the community of Valdigne and beyond.
If the 41-year-old’s epigraph spoke of his “last trace towards heaven”, it was the parish priest Paolo Viganò (flanked by the military chaplain and many other priests) to explain that those tracks are “the sign of the good that continues to live in the world thanks to you, Denis”. All around, the banners of the Valle d’Aosta guide companies, present in a group with their technical and moleskin uniforms, but also his fellow soldiers who had known him first as an athlete and then as an instructor and coordinator of the high mountain section of the Courmayeur Centre.
Everyone gave life to an unusual “farewell” to their friend and colleague, in which music was also the protagonist. The choir interpreted “Lord of the peaks” and “Montagne Valdôtaines”, but the notes of “In un giorno di rain” by the Modena City Ramblers also resonated in the church, a song which – explained the priest – had already been played years ago, on the occasion of the funeral of Denis’ brother, Valerio, who also passed away prematurely. A ballad in which the band sings that “on a rainy day I will see you again / And I will be able to console your wet eyes. / On a rainy day we will be close.”
It was then Sévérine, daughter of Trento, who dedicated a few words to her father: “you are so strong and courageous that they also wanted you up there, where you are now. You did what you liked until the last minute of your life. And wherever you are I know you will have climbed all the mountains there are. Fearless. As always. We already miss you,” she exclaimed, her voice cracking with emotion, “but you’re here with us and you will be forever.” A thought greeted by thunderous applause from those present.
To demonstrate the closeness of the Army, the commander of the Alpine troops, the general, went up to La Salle today Ignazio Gamba. Clinging to the ski mountaineer’s loved ones, he urged them to see in his three children the ideal continuation of everything good that Trento has done. And, as the commander of the sports center, Lieutenant Colonel, recalled Patrick Farcoz – after having reviewed its list of victories at the world and European championships, but also in classics such as the Pierramenta and the Patrouille des glaciers – let’s talk about a “person who has earned my respect and that of the Army”.
Trento, added the officer, was animated by “passion and sincere attachment to work”. Of course, “he also had an introverted character”, as a person “used to doing more than speaking”, but he also had an “ironic and self-deprecating, determined and stubborn” trait, but above all “always consistent” in choices. For this reason, Farcoz said, “he left countless traces in the mountains, but the one in the Army”, where he “helped build a team of the highest level”, is “indelible”.
Accompanying the coffin out of the church, after a long embrace from the community to the relatives of Trento, were the soldiers of the Sports Centre, together with Marco Camandona. The internationally renowned mountaineer was linked by a deep friendship in Trento. It was he, at the beginning of the 2000s, who convince him to switch to ski mountaineering, after his career debut on narrow skis. A relationship built on awareness of limits, determination and the need to continually improve with training. In a word, on esteem. One that was palpable today among all who knew him.
