Massimo Di Marco, Patriarch of Italian Ski Journalism, Dies after 92 Seasons of Stories

Massimo Di Marco, a master of ski journalism whose pen defined how generations of Italians understood Alpine skiing, has died. He passed away in spring — at the end of the season, as he would have wanted, when, as those who knew him noted, the weapons are laid down.

The founder of Sciare magazine and a towering figure in Alpine skiing media has passed away, leaving behind an irreplaceable archive of the sport's greatest era. His weapon was the pen, and he wielded it with uncommon grace for 92 seasons.

Di Marco began his career as a contributor to La Gazzetta dello Sport before founding Sciare, the Italian ski magazine that became — and remains — an essential archive for anyone seeking to understand the Alpine Skiing World Cup in all its depth and drama. As its first editor, he shaped not only the publication but the vocabulary of an entire sport in a country that would go on to produce some of its greatest champions.

He was there for Tomba. He was there for the post-Tomba era, and the post-post-Tomba era after that. He chronicled it all with what colleagues described as cultured flourishes, numbers precise to the thousandth, and ironic metaphors that made technical analysis feel like literature. His "blue and pink Avalanches" — the colour-coded rankings that became his trademark — were as eagerly anticipated as the race results themselves.

The spark, by his own account, came early. "I'm a sports journalist with a background in publishing," he once said. "At 11, I published Il giornale della casa. The print run of four copies sold out like hotcakes, and this success was the spark." The director, as he was known, was born.

Beyond the page, Di Marco was equally at home on radio, where he demonstrated a rare gift: the ability to explain everything — the physics of a carved turn, the politics of a start list, the poetry of a perfect run — with clarity and warmth that reached audiences far beyond the specialist press. Until last season, he was still delivering lucid, pointed analyses to a new generation of followers on social media, as sharp and exacting as ever.

Those who loved him noted a certain poetic fitness in his timing. A man of entirely natural intelligence — fastidious in his craft, devoted to the precision and weight of language — he chose to depart just as artificial intelligence was poised to reshape the world of words. He could not, it was said, have tolerated it.

Di Marco was also a master of tango, a devotee of Argentine dance whose passion for rhythm and partnership extended well beyond the press tribune. He taught, in that art as in journalism, by example — and generations of younger ski writers drank from his source.

The Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) paid tribute to Di Marco as among the last of a generation of international ski journalists whose boldness of metaphor and candour of expression set a standard that will not easily be matched. President Flavio Roda, the Board of Directors, coaches, athletes, and staff expressed their deepest condolences to his family.

He is survived by his son Marco, who has inherited his legacy in ski media, and his daughter Rossella, who has for years been committed to carrying forward the family's work in the sport.

The funeral was held on Thursday, May 28, at 11 a.m., at the Church of Santa Croce, Via Sidoli 8, Milan.