PG: I am particularly amazed by the variety of mountain activities you practice and excell at. Did you by pure curiosity pick up the more extravagant styles, highlining and base jumping? Or what is the driving force behind that diversity and progressive approach?
MM: During all my sport life in general, I constantly changed. I "evolved" from volleyball to football, from judo to tennis and I finally ended up playing rugby. Then I left it all and started practicing outdoor activities, with the help of my father who is a skilled alpinist and skitourer. The point is that I had periods when I defined myself as a climber, in others as a skier then pass through highlining and now I'm mostly a base jumper. I just put myself in a state where I can learn new activities without leaving the old ones. I didn't even search for them, but at some point in the learning process I discovered to be skilled enough to play by myself.
But what is the main playground for all these activities? Nature. I love to live the elements. I want to strongly feel the rock, the air, the snow and so on. Living the elements is what drive me through seasons, following the flow of where I am and what the mountains are offering me. Ah, I like the sea too... especially windsurfing.
PG: To me the combination of activities in the mountains makes sense naturally and enriches the experience. Skitouring is an example of that, combining hiking and skiing. Do you think that this is somewhat a key to a fulfilling mountain sports life: to enjoy it in all of its aspects and to not focus too specifically?
MM: What you just said is exactly my style. And the more I travel and meet people the more I see that this is the way people are living the experience. When you practice only one activity, you see the mountain just in that way, but if you play with different styles you can see in the same mountain a wall to climb, a couloirs to ski, a highline to connect pics, wingsuit lines to fly, or takes off for paragliding and so on. Here is where creativity starts, you have the possibility to draw different lines in the same canvas, following the seasons and your personal style, isn't it incredible?
I strongly believe this mix of activities saved my life.
When I'm good at something I always push it to the max I can achieve, but at the end this could be deadly. I found this way of mixing activities in order to find a new path, a new research, for myself and for the possibilities that mountains offers. When it happens I like to call it “combo days”. And those are special days.
PG: Activities and sports in the mountains have a great recreational value, and hence the tourism. As a mountain guide, how do you see the discussion about the environmental impact of tourism on the Alps? When you are guiding and teaching, do you have a specific educational agenda?
MM: This question is central to my guide style. Of course it depends on the clients I have, but this is why I run an association that is called Nature4kids which has the goal to teach the young generation how to live the nature in a proper way. Its "motto" is: if you know it you can respect it.
Unfortunately, in general, I don't see a long term view from the governments. There are some good projects starting but they are small and with no money. A large amount of money is still used to building new lifts and to make artificial snow, which is something pretty stupid if you think about global warming. Every year we see the level of the snow getting higher. At the beginning of last season I was interviewed by an Italian newspaper asking what I thought about the closure of the lifts due to Covid. Well, my answer was that I hoped this closure could be the start for an alternative way of thinking the winter tourism. However I didn’t see many changes.
PG: You certainly practice activities with full consequence. How is your approach to risk management? Does it differ when you are basejumping or ski-touring?
MM: I always say “I'm not really good at any sport but I can do them all with enough safety”.
The thing that kills most people practicing outdoor sports is complacency, and changing sport constantly reduces a bit this kind of risk because you always feel scared. I try to go to the mountain without a defined idea of the risk I’m gonna take but always, especially in skitouring, adjusting the main risk constantly. Which is the main risk now? How can I avoid it? These should be the questions every time the inclinations change, every corner we pass, every weather change. I try to be "open" to new risks coming on a tour and not start hiking saying, “OK I have to be careful there and there” so I can feel safe, because I know things can change quickly.
PG: It seems like you have experienced mountains in almost all their facets. What's the discipline you have not tried yet and when will you pick that up? What about the high altitude?
MM: I'm not interested in high altitude, not yet at least! I have a project next summer but more close to 6000. That is a type of alpinism that is too tiring and asks too much. I prefer fast missions, where I can chill in the valley quite quickly afterwards. I haven't tried mountain water sports. I did a bit of canyoning and canoeing but I would like to do some good kayaking to experience the power of a river. Anyway I always say that when I reach 40 I will switch to sea sports. Let's see what life will bring.
PG: Are there any alpine activities you consciously disapprove and why?
MM: Not really. I like all kind of outdoor activities because they allow everyone to experiment himself in this enviroment and grow somehow. I just disapprove the one who takes risks without the know-how. You can do free solo climbing, you can fly close to the ground, you can ski steep couloirs but you have to understand the consequences, and you have to prepare yourself to deal with that. It’s a mental training that you cannot do in a gym, you have to be exposed, you have to be out there, step by step.
