Let’s meet up at the mountain hut
Pian de Fontana (August 31st and September 1st), Cava Buscada (September 7th), and Pradidali (September 21st) mountain huts. These are the places and dates to note in your diary, to ensure you don’t miss the upcoming “Incontri d’Alt(r)a Quota” (Other High Altitude Encounters) The show goes on; after the first encounter at Refugio Berti at Vallon Popera, featuring quality producers from the UNESCO Dolomites and star chef Alessandro Gilmozzi, and following the (wet but not less important) Brenta Open meeting at the Agostini mountain hut, with the focus on mountain access for people with disabilities.
The light of the Dolomites
How can one capture the beauty of the Dolomites? On August 31, the photographer Moreno Geremetta from Agordo is organising a special excursion for lovers of photography and the mountains. The route will take them along the Alta Via Dolomiti Bellunesi between the Sommariva al Pramperet mountain hut and the Pian de Fontana mountain hut in the Parco Nazionale Dolomiti Bellunesi. It’s a challenging course, for up to nine participants who must be physically fit. The aim is to look for new and interesting scenes to capture, with an emphasis on both environmental value and technical expertise. Social media has flooded the web with images, with the paradoxical effect of standardising rather than diversifying the subjects photographed, and degrading their aesthetic value. The Dolomites, and especially the wild, mysterious mountains in the Belluno Dolomites National Park, offer the opportunity to take more original photos, because, as Moreno Geremetta himself writes in an article: “It is hard to describe the happiness you feel when you manage to take your very own photo, the one that everyone would like to have in their collection but that you did first and which others can only copy.” The excursion will depart at 8:30 a.m. from Forno di Zoldo, and is scheduled to arrive at Pian de Fontana at 5:00 p.m., where participants will be welcomed by the managers, Elena Zamberlan and Antonio Tedde. After a night’s stay and a chance to take photos at sunrise, the party will hike down to Longarone where a shuttle bus will take them back to Forno di Zoldo.
The history of the Dolomites
On Saturday 7 September, a special event will take place at the Cava Buscada mountain hut, in Val Zemola in the Friulian Dolomites. The event is the result of a collaboration between MUSE – the Trento Science Museum – and the Regional Natural Park of the Friulian Dolomites. Participants will meet at Casera Mela at 9:00 a.m., and after the ascent and a break at the mountain hut in the company of managers Roberta and Gianpietro Corona, attention will turn to the fascinating geology of the Dolomites. Indeed, the programme for the day includes a walk, or rather a journey through time, exploring the quarry above the refuge, and the area known as the garden of the ammonites. In the company of guides from the Friulian Dolomites Natural Park and researchers from MUSE, participants will learn about the various fossils they will encounter along the way, as well as the scented plants in the botanical garden. It’s a wonderful way to increase your knowledge, and also to experience a (sweet-smelling) chapter in the history of the earth. The last pages in this story also involve Man, and the evidence of his mining activities will also prove very interesting.
The voice of the Dolomites
From history to tales of the Dolomites: stories told by the writer Matteo Melchiorre and accompanied by the music of the double-bass player Nelso Salton. These two will lead participants up to the Pradidali mountain hut in the Pale di San Martino Group, where the last “Incontri d’alt(r)a quota” in the summer season will take place. This encounter on September 21st will once again involve mountain hut managers Piera and Duilio Boninsegna, guardians of our World Heritage.
Ph. Franco Oliveri