Massimiliano Ossini, lessons at high altitude

This article is published in number 1 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until January 5, 2022

The good boy of Mamma Rai – the child who does not give thoughts, the one with a few crickets on his head, the one always ready to churn out a polite but sincere smile, blond and with blue eyes like a perfect angelic iconography – is back on the air. Massimiliano Ossini resumes the reins of his consolidated workhorse on Raiuno, White Line, cathodic bible for high altitude skiers and hikers, and repeats on Raidue debuting with Kalipè – At a walking pace, five Wednesdays in prime time, starting from 29 December, on a journey around the globe, immersed in nature, to rediscover its beauty and its evident fragility.

It has now found its definitive television location: nature, the environment, the mountains. An authentic passion or, even, the convenience of basking in his comfort zone?
«Caliper it is, above all, a dream come true. Since I was a child I was obsessed with wasting water, food, electricity. Now this fixation has turned into scientific popularization. In this new transmission I move from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the top of the Matterhorn, to talk about climate change, glacier erosion, rising waters. But we don’t want to tell only the environmental disaster to mourn ourselves. We are positive: we understand that we are fragile, but we also know what we must do to escape the risk of extinction ».

What is that?
“The only weapon we have to save ourselves is knowledge.”

Do you feel more like a presenter or a popularizer today?
“I do ping pong between one, in the studio, and the other, in the open air. For me this is also an experiment in language: we must reach the new generations, used to very fast information. The moments dedicated to the presentation are minimal, while those of disclosure require that the threshold of attention be raised ».

Do you ever hear from former actor? It started like this …
“Look, when I have the chance, I still do it. In the program I talk about desertification: how not to impersonate Clint Eastwood the good, the bad and the ugly, riding and fighting? ».

Flagship of Caliper, a new program broadcast on Massimiliano Ossini’s Raidue, is the highest television studio in the world, the arrival station, Punta Elbronner, at 3,462 meters above sea level, of the Skyway del Monte Bianco cable car.

Paolo Alfieri

The mountain seems to be his place of the soul. I err?
«The mountain is a teacher of life, it is where we human beings can stop, look, listen, marvel. It forces you to slow down. It reminds us to be so small in front of her, so majestic. The mountain teaches you to know yourself, your limits, your fears ».

What are yours?
«Today, that of being alone, even though I have a beautiful family. But there have been years in which I worked a lot, in important programs, and despite that I was not happy. I was afraid I wasn’t really happy with myself. I risked perhaps not falling into depression, but certainly being sick. With the mountains I discovered myself, and I began to cultivate even my most solitary pleasures: walking, reflecting, even getting bored. Today I know how to live boredom like children do, when they play with their imagination ».

He has three relatively young children …
“In short, the oldest is 17, she has already lived in England for two years.”

Even if it doesn’t seem like it, time has passed even for her. How did you transmit this passion to them?
“In a natural way, taking them with me to the mountains. The best way to educate is always to do, I think ».

Caliper is a Himalayan word and means “slow and short step”. Is your career a journey of perhaps small, but constant steps?
«I would say yes. I’ve been on the air for 20 years, I think mine is an ancient television, but not an old one. Immediate ascents sometimes risk causing you to fall quickly, and disastrously. I’ve always said to myself: if things don’t happen, maybe it’s not time yet. “

Now, however, would you not want to take a long jump?
“Actually no. I am a marathoner. Of course, the final sprint sometimes helps ».

In all these years, have you ever found yourself touching situations that have made you understand how dramatic the state of health of our planet is?
«The Marmolada glacier: summer after summer I find it, with the naked eye, more withdrawn. Perhaps it will not be a scientifically relevant datum, but it often happened to me to celebrate my birthday, December 22, in short sleeves “.

In recent years, has the collective awareness of the environment also changed?
«We talk about it a lot, every day, and people are certainly more attentive to the issue. But even more information is needed: young people prefer bikes to mopeds, but they don’t know how much pollution it causes by downloading an app or watching a series in streaming ».

Speaking of birthdays: he just celebrated 43 years. But the good boy face is always the same. Do you find yourself in this cliché?
«Well done I can’t say, but boy yes. I like to be – or at least to appear – like this: my models were Fabrizio Frizzi, Piero Angela, even Mike Bongiorno, people who gave serenity, who knew how to reassure. Then, in private life, one never knows what he really is … ».

Does it imply that even she may have a more shady side?
«You should ask my wife or my children…».

Have you ever wondered who it would be, today, if Disney Club – the program that launched it – took it to America? A Justin Timberlake, a Ryan Gosling, or in any case always the good Maximilian next door?
“With the head I have, maybe I would be some kind of Leonardo DiCaprio. He is also a passionate environmentalist. Then who knows, maybe such an immediate resounding success could have gone to my head. A lot of money, a lot of popularity. Some of my colleagues from overseas ended up in the trap of drugs, depression, alcohol… ».

Does she never transgress?
“Transgressions are not for me. But they are very, very messy. You can hardly get into my house. In the car you can find everything. The sofa is submerged in clothes ».

And we who were already hoping for who knows what.

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