For Federico's Skiing, Extreme Is Best

They climbed icy walls and 6,000-meter-high mountains with ice axes and crampons, recalling memories of great endeavors. Then, after reaching the peak, they strapped on skis and skied down, looking out for precipices and avalanches. Many people think of them as supermen, while others see them as reckless emotion hunters. Federico Colli, a 34-year-old Milan native, recently returned from an expedition with his longtime friend, Edmond Joyeusaz. They climbed Lhotse, Everest's legendary twin mountain, which is the fourth highest on the planet at 8,516 meters.

Federico is a full-blooded Bocconian, but at the same time he's atypical. His two grandfathers, both parents and his brother all graduated from the Via Sarfatti university, so it was a natural choice for him after completing classical secondary school. He enrolled in a business management program, then went on to the Bachelor in Economia e Management per Arte, Cultura e Comunicazione already indulging his creative side, and graduated in 2003. During his studies, Federico continued to pursue his greatest passion, which is now also his profession: skiing.
"I've been a ski instructor since 1998, as a third level federal trainer, the highest level in Italy, as well as a sports trainer," he says. "And in my free time I also take perform extreme skiing, which is different from steep skiing because it's done on inclines greater than 50%." During university, Federico's life was a constant back and forth between the Lombardy capital and Champolouc, where he taught lessons during the winter. "Luckily I've always been good at knowing how to organize my time, so I could teach without neglecting my studies, and I was able to graduate on time." With a degree under his belt, Federico Colli made a few attempts at working for big companies: a few months at Vodafone, then l'Oréal, Ernst & Young and Marketing Point, without completely abandoning skiing. Then, in 2007, he got an offer from the Courmayeur Ski Club, one of the most prestigious in Italy, and Federico made a decision. "I didn't see my future at a company. It wasn't worth it. So I gathered my things and my bags and went to Valle d'Aosta."

Spending the whole day in an office wasn't particularly tempting for him. Here, at the foot of Monte Rosa, he found his element. "I train 12 months a year, and right now I'm working with kids who are 9 and 10 years old, focusing on technical skills, slalom and giant slalom. There might be a person in this group who is another Federica Brignone, whose athletic training I supervised." In the winter he's on the slopes and in the summer he's on glaciers, because, at a certain level, training should never completely stop. Federico commutes between Milan, because some of his students live in the city and he coaches them at the XXV Aprile sports center. Every once in a while he takes off, seeking adventure. "Extreme skiing is performed on virgin soil, in hostile environments. The main objective is being the first to mark a specific route, do something no one else has done before. I've been to Nepal, on the Mera Peak, and I've also skied places closer to home, but just as difficult, such as the Brenva spur and the north wall of the Lyskamm, on the Alps, whose slopes are steeper than 55 degrees."

On Lhotse, things didn't go as Federico and Edmond had hoped. They were at base camp for one month waiting for the weather to allow them to make the climb, then they gave up. "The weather conditions were terrible, the risk was too high for avalanches. On the trip back, however, we decided to ski the Ice Fall, an area full of precipices between Everest and Lhotse, 6,000 meters high, an endeavor that only the Slovenian extreme skier Davo Karnicar had completed before me." In late December, a documentary made by Carlo Limonta, who followed Federico and Edmond to base camp, will be ready. "We'll try to sell it to a TV station. Then we'll start thinking about our next challenge, maybe in South America, where there are some great mountains, some of which are very difficult and 6,000 meters high. The only problem, in this case, will be finding sponsors, who are usually more generous when they hear the name Himalaya, with the lure of 8,000 meters." The desire to always go "beyond" is what pushes people like Federico to risk their lives in extreme places. But it's not the only emotion: "The best feeling is having complete control over your emotions, having an intense concentration that allows you to manage your fear and panic. That's when you feel truly in harmony with yourself."