There was, of course, qualification for the Winter Olympic Games, an objective they had spoken about together six months earlier. Three spots for the Squadra Azzurra in ski mountaineering’s Olympic debut at Milano Cortina. Selection was tight, but within reach. To compete for your country, on home snow, is more than a goal, it is the culmination of a career. And they did it. Both secured their place, creating a unique scenario: Italy’s mixed relay team is a couple, on the course as in life. Perhaps not a first in Olympic history, but certainly a striking one.

Earning that selection meant shifting focus to shorter formats, extremely short, in fact. The sprint: a three-minute burst of pure intensity, elimination rounds where a single mistake in transition can erase any chance of victory. The opposite of what they love. Far from the long, technical mountain races that demand grit and endurance, the terrain where they truly thrive. Still, they claimed fifth place in the mixed relay in Bormio, on familiar ground just an hour from home. Memorable.

The Pierra Menta: a benchmark race, a legendary test.
Then comes March, and with it a race etched deep into their calendar. A legend of the sport, and one where both stand as leading figures. The Pierra Menta is the reference point: the race where the great names of ski mountaineering, and even trail running, make their mark. To win here is not only to top a results sheet, but to enter a rare circle. Alba has claimed victory once and stands on the podium year after year. Michele has won it four times. A record that speaks for itself. The Pierra Menta unfolds over four days, raced in teams of two, since 1986 on the slopes of the Beaufortain around Arêches-Beaufort in Savoie. Named after a jagged rock peak that seems to watch over the race like a silent totem, it is a world apart. Ten thousand metres of elevation gain, fifteen summits between 2,000 and 2,687 metres, knife-edge ridges and descents taken at full speed by the very best.

What makes it legendary is as much what happens off the skis as on them. Thousands of spectators climb up before dawn, bells ringing, accordions and trumpets sounding, forming a human corridor all the way to the Grand-Mont ridge. A wild, operatic setting and an atmosphere unlike anything else in the discipline. Regularly hosting the ISMF Long Distance World Championships, the Pierra Menta remains, for specialists, the ultimate benchmark. Even Kilian Jornet, four-time winner, is among those drawn to its difficulty and the technical and physical demands it imposes.

The 2026 edition marked the race’s 40th anniversary and doubled as the Long Distance World Championships. Italy fielded two teams, with Michele and Alba among them. Each, with their respective partners, secured third place on the world podium. A year shaped by Olympic preparation is not one that naturally favours the demands of the Pierra Menta, at least not if victory is the goal. Next year will be different. Summer will pass in a blur of road rides and mountain biking, trail races will serve as benchmarks of form, and then it will be time to return to the demanding circuit of this most extraordinary discipline.