Right or wrong? Good or bad? Learn to recognise scary human habits, and get ready to let out some terrorific screams! Follow the adventures of the monstrous Dolomeyes as it grapples with the bizarre behaviour of its guests at high altitudes! Listen to its advice about living in balance with the environment, consuming water mindfully and tackling the mountains in complete safety! And remember… #DONTBEAMONSTER
Dark Water / A thirst to die for
Do not underestimate the importance of proper water usage on your trek; let’s learn to recognise the pitfalls lurking in the wrong kind of behaviour.
Hellphone / A smartphone can prolong your life
How many things can a smartphone help us with? Even your safety in the mountains depends on it.
Dark Water II / The return of the thirst
Water is as precious as it is exhaustible, especially at high altitudes. How can we use it in a sustainable, mindful way?
Creepshow / Don’t open that wardrobe
Being fashionable or trendy doesn’t matter! What matters in the mountains is dressing in a way that is practical, useful and safe.
The Monster Club / The mountains have eyes
Do you feel like you’re being watched? It’s normal: in the mountains you’re never really completely alone. Learn to respect the flora, fauna and people that live here.
Overlook Hotel / A night in a mountain hut
How do you have an authentic mountain hut experience? You need the right spirit of adaptation as well as some simple, but not obvious, rules for a happy coexistence.
The campaign for conscious tourism at high altitudes
The changing face of growing attendance, increasingly international tourism, the mountain hut as a destination rather than a starting point, a lack of awareness regarding the limits and characteristics of the mountain environment, and finally, water: a resource that is as precious as it is scarce – these are the issues at the heart of “Dolomeyes: Fear at first sight”, a realisation of how visits to high-altitude environments have undergone a radical change, with a significant increase in visitors who perceive the Mountain Hut as the destination of their excursion. Too often, both new and old hikers expect to find all the comforts of a hotel in a Mountain Hut, requesting similar services and demonstrating a lack of understanding of the difficulties related to the management and supply of resources, especially water. That’s why the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation, in cooperation with the Dolomites Mountain Hut Managers and Mountaineering Associations, has launched a discussion to identify solutions and proposals for promoting an awareness campaign that invites hikers to make conscious use of the mountains and rational use of water in a context where the availability of this resource is very limited due to climate change, and supplying the mountain huts is very expensive.
The goal
We want to trigger a cultural change and heighten awareness among people frequenting the mountains. Too often, visitors to the mountains don’t understand the reality of the situation and inadvertently make requests that cannot be fulfilled, because the high-altitude environment obviously cannot offer all the comforts and the same pace of life that we are used to in the city. This is why it’s important to trigger a process of awareness on the part of people who frequent the mountains. Visitors who are aware of their surroundings don’t risk being disappointed, but instead seek out and welcome the ‘limits’ imposed by the mountain environment, seeing them as an opportunity for an authentic and unique experience. At the same time, increased awareness among guests can be a real help in the daily work of the mountain hut managers, because it reduces the risk of misunderstandings and increases the efficiency of resource management.