April 7, 2009 (Macugnaga, (Italy) – Bode Miller, Peter Fill and Pietro Piller Cottrer exceptionally acted as guides for the skiers of “Gruppo Verbanese Sciatori Ciechi”. Macugnaga ski slopes hosted the first edition of Briko 4 Blind.

An unforgettable week end: last week end the alpine and Nordic ski slopes of Macugnaga hosted the first edition of the unprecedented event called Briko 4 Blind. For more than twenty years, indeed, Gruppo Verbanese Sciatori Ciechi has been allowing sightless people to play both alpine and Nordic skiing. During the last week end almost twenty sightless people were given the opportunity to play their favourite sport with world best athletes.

The US champion Bode Miller and the world silver medallist Peter Fill, on Saturday, and Pietro Piller Cottrer on Sunday, acted as exceptional guides for sightless skiers.”It was my first time as sightless skier’s guide” said Bode Miller “and I was surprised by the way these wonderful people ski”. Even more moved, Peter Fill, the guy from Castelrotto, said: “At the beginning I was a little nervous, but the sightless skier I was accompanying told me not to worry, and so I loosened up”. For both of them, this has been an important and really touching experience they wish to repeat.

On Sunday, the day dedicated to cross-country skiing, Pietro Piller Cottrer went even beyond: “After accompanying several skiers I decided to live the experience of skiing as a sightless person” said the champion from Sappadia “and now I appreciate even more the enthusiasm of these extraordinary people”.

Also the people that planned and arranged this event to the last detail were extremely satisfied. “We wished to arrange a wide-ranging event with a friendly atmosphere” said Mr. Carlo Bololi, Briko chairman “at the end of the season, in a relaxed atmosphere without the pressure of competitions, our athletes managed to perfectly catch the spirit of this event”.
The first edition of Briko 4 Blind has closed leaving in our hearts the memory of a week end of great enthusiasm and great attention towards disabled people.

Event photo’s available here.