Marcello Varallo

Marcello Varallo was born in Milano but grew up in his mother´s hometown of Val Badia in the Tyrol. He spent three years as a management trainee at the Hotel Ladinia in Brunico where he started his competitive skiing career and won several competitions. At the age of 18, Varallo won the downhill and giant slalom of the regional youth championships in Bressanone. After enlisting in the Guardia di Finanza (Tax Police) at the age of 20, he became a member of Italy´s skiing B team and enjoyed continued success.

At the 1970 World Championships in Val Gardena, Varallo showed his skills as a downhill racer, finishing fifth. The national downhill champion in 1971, he was 10th in both the Crystal Mountain downhill and the Sapporo Olympic downhill in 1972. Varallo’s best year was 1973 when he ranked third in the opening downhill in Val d’Isère, was tenth in Val Gardena, placed second in both Garmisch races, and finished fifth in the Hahnenkamm in Kitzbühel. He concluded his best World Cup season by finishing third in the downhill rankings.

Varallo retired from competitive skiing after the 1974 Sankt Moritz World Championships, where he did not complete the downhill. After retiring, he took over the management of the family hotel in La Villa di Badia, and in 1980 became the organiser of the World Cup races in Alta Badia.