"In my opinion alpinism is going to the Alpis, then everyone can practise it as they like. I think I have opened a new chapter, that of athletic alpinism. Its rules are like those of athletic alpinism, so it has to be timed and it requires a lot of athletic training and it is practised in a mountain environment". These are the words of thirty-five years old Valerio Bertoglio, a torinese who lives in Valsavarenche in Val d' Aosta, after his latest feat: a race from Breuil up the Matterhorn and back in 4 hours 16' and 27''. Previously he had already climbed Gran Paradiso, Mount Rosa and four northern walls in the Gran Paradiso range in record time.