Paride Milianti

Italian skier Paride Milianti was born in the ancient village of Pianaccio in the Apennines ski resort of Abetone. He soon took to skiing, following in the footsteps of fellow locals Zeno Colò and Celina Seghi, and went on to become a fine all-round skier in the 1950s and 1960s. He won the Italian slalom title in 1957 and 1965, and giant slalom in 1962, when he also won the combined, ahead of Luggi Leitner and Bruno Alberti.

Milianti appeared in three Winter Olympics between 1956-64 and after his competitive career worked at the Abetone Ski School from 1966. He then coached national teams and developed such champions as Fausto Radici, Tino Pietrogiovanna, Piero Gros, Paolo De Chiesa and Carlo Senoner. For 11 years from 1964, Milianti was an instructor at the Livrio Summer Ski School and in 1973 opened a shop at Abetone preparing skis and boots for races. At the age of 67, in 2001, he participated in the expedition to the North Pole commemorating the journey completed in 1901 by Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi.