A seed in the Alps. “Imbumba” in Zulu means seed. On 4 and 5 October 2025, that seed was planted in the Alps, in Val Ferret, on the Mont Blanc massif. Massimo Coda and Niccolò Bruni opened a new alpine route, dedicating it to the Imbumba Foundation of Johannesburg and its founder Richard Mabaso, creator of Trek4Mandela. A technical, demanding route that will remain on maps and in the memory of all who climb it. And at the same time something more: a permanent place where the mountain ceases to be exclusive territory and becomes a space open to anyone who chooses to try.
The African roots. It all begins in South Africa, in 2012, when Richard Mabaso, founder and CEO of the Imbumba Foundation, gives life to Trek4Mandela. He sees in the mountain something many have yet to see: not a space for conquest, but a place where differences dissolve. On Kilimanjaro, every year on Mandela Day, Imbumba organises expeditions that bring together athletes, entrepreneurs, activists and ordinary supporters around a single idea: on the climb, no one is left behind. The funds raised support Caring4Girls, the programme that guarantees education and dignity to thousands of girls in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Eswatini and Tanzania. To date, more than four hundred women and men have reached the highest summit in Africa, bringing concrete help to over two million girls.
In 2023 Marina Pizziolo and Romano Ravasio conceive Trek4Mandela International: to carry that message to the mountains of Europe, to build a lasting bridge between Africa and Europe. In July 2024 the first edition in Cortina, on the Tofana di Rozes, brings together climbers, mountain guides, supporters and institutions. The project takes shape.
The route. The Imbumba route is not a facilitated route. It is a route that demands skill, preparation and determination. Niccolò Bruni, Head Guide of Courmayeur and author of first ascents on the Mont Blanc massif, guarantees its technical authority. Massimo Coda climbs it alongside him as an equal: not assistance, reciprocity. The patronage of the Comitato Italiano Paralimpico, the Guide Alpine Courmayeur, the Unione Valdostana Guide Alta Montagna and CAI Cortina places the route at the heart of Italian alpine tradition, recognising it as a cultural act as well as a sporting one. Diego Borsotti, photographer and videomaker from Locarno specialising in extreme sports, documented the feat in photos and video.
The video is an Art4Life production, published on 11 December 2025, International Mountain Day, on the channels of Imbumba Foundation and Art4Life.
Massimo Coda: the worst limit is excuses. The story of Massimo Coda is one of those that change the way you look at a rock face. Born in Biella in 1970, passionate about the mountains from an early age, on 13 November 2010 he falls twelve metres during a training session on a wall. He permanently loses the use of his right foot. Two years of continuous hospital stays follow, sixteen surgical operations in hospitals across Italy, then four years of personal reconstruction, with the awareness that life would never be what it had been before.
In 2017, when he finds a new equilibrium, he realises something is still missing. He then takes the most difficult and courageous decision: to have his right leg amputated below the knee, to regain his freedom of movement. With a titanium prosthesis he returns to climbing. Within two seasons he reaches the summit of Monte Rosa, the Marmolada, Monviso, Gran Paradiso, Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn. In 2021, with his friend Andrea Lanfri, he completes the Monte Rosa traverse in full autonomy. In 2024 he climbs to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Every bolt he drives is a message for anyone looking for an excuse not to begin. His motto says it without hesitation: “The worst limit is the excuses we find not to overcome it.” It is with this spirit that Massimo Coda opened the Via Imbumba.
The patronage of the Comitato Italiano Paralimpico. The CIP granted its patronage to the Via Imbumba: not a symbolic gesture, but a precise positioning. Trek4Mandela International and the Via Imbumba become part of the institutional system of Italian Paralympic sport, carrying with them the values that gave them life.
Special thanks to Luigi Alverà, president of CAI Cortina, who opened the way to this patronage.
Next steps. The Via Imbumba is not a finishing line. In the summer of 2026 Trek4Mandela International will build two inclusive single-pitch crags in Courmayeur and Cortina. The format is the single-pitch: one rope length, short and controlled, assisted by mountain guides and specialist staff, designed to make the experience of the mountain accessible to anyone, regardless of physical, sensory or cognitive disability. Those who use a wheelchair, those with a visual impairment, those living with an autistic condition: everyone can approach the rock safely, with the right support and without sacrificing the authenticity of the experience. A replicable model, the first nucleus of an international network linked to UN SDG10 (Reducing Inequalities), for which formal candidacy will be launched for the UN SDG Action Awards, Zero Project and FAO Mountain Partnership.
More seeds to plant in the Alps: it will be up to us to make them sprout.
