The Dolomites Geotrail is now on outdooractive
Between May and June, Alpine Guides and Mid-Mountain Guides from Friuli Venezia Giulia, Trentino and Veneto had the opportunity to further their geological knowledge of the Dolomites World Heritage Site, through training on the Dolomites World Heritage Geotrail organised by the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation in collaboration with the respective colleges.
Guiding visitors through time
The training sessions for Alpine Guides and Mid-Mountain Guides on the geological value of the area where they work can enable a highly targeted and effective multiplier effect. Those who consult these professional figures are already focused on an informed experience of the area and its value, and adding geological information to the technical, aesthetic and landscape aspects of guiding activity can only serve to enrich the experience and enable a deeper understanding of the time scales required to present 300 million years of the Earth’s history and the ability to read the landscape also from a geological perspective.
Guides and geologists on the trail
Naturally, training took place in the field and, for a change, it was the Alpine Guides and Mid-Mountain Guides who were led by geologists.
The first session, organised by Alberto Riva, was held in Friuli-Venezia Giulia on 29 May, along trail 341, which runs from Passo della Mauria to Vallonut di Forni and gave participants an opportunity to understand the various features of the different types of dolomite rock and the geomorphological processes that shaped the natural pyramids found there. Next, it was the turn of Guides from Trentino, who hiked the section from Fuciade mountain hut to Bus da la Tas’cia on 7 June, led by geologist Riccardo Tommasoni, who taught them about the environments in which limestone material formed and how to identify the different geomorphological processes that shaped the basin. Finally, on 12 June, Guides from Veneto met in Val Garés and headed for Malga Stia, the ideal location for geologists Franco Fiamoi and Silvana Martin to help them understand the volcanic activity in the area more than 230 million years ago and how to distinguish landforms of Pale di San Martino and Cima Pape and those above, between Forcella Stia and Punta dei Mar.
The sessions were also an opportunity to reflect on the significance and management of World-Heritage status, offering suggestions on how to interpret and explain geological forms and processes to customers, and, finally, to offer advice on how to use the tools of the Dolomites World Heritage Geotrail.
