His latest book, La stanza delle mele (Feltrinelli), tells of a mountainous environment in which the harshness of a human condition as precarious and slippery as a grassy slope comes face to face with the metaphysics of the traditions that have always sought to transfigure this condition. A mountain, in this case the one that looms over the Fodóm valley (Livinallongo del Col di Lana – BL), that even children could fall in love with, transforming their worldly prison into a space where they can let their dreams run wild and start making them come true. Author Matteo Righetto, winner of the UNESCO Dolomites Special Prize at Pordenonelegge, will be the star attraction at the first of the “Incontri d’Alt(r)a Quota” which is scheduled to take place at the Falier mountain hut (BL) on 16 July (or 23 July in the event of bad weather). Participants will have the opportunity to meet the author and discuss this mountain, as well as the many other mountains that the he brings to life in his novels.
At the heart of the World Heritage Site
After the success of last summer’s literary trek with Matteo Righetto on the slopes of the Pelmo, where participants learned how to describe the wood, the rock and the meadows that they passed along the way on their sensory journey towards the Città di Fiume mountain hut, this year’s trek will be repeated under the silvery rock face of the Marmolada. Departure will be at 8 a.m. from Malga Ciapela, and the group will trek at a slow pace while tackling the 550 metres of relief towards the magnificent Ombretta Valley and the Falier mountain hut, where they will be welcomed by mountain hut manager Dante Del Bon and his family, accompanied by guide Laura Olivotto. Along the way, the author of La pelle dell’orso, L’anima della frontiera, L’ultima patria, La terra promessa, I prati dopo di noi and many other novels that have the mountain as co-protagonist, will talk with everyone present on the therapeutic value of the mountain environment, the Dolomites landscape as a place of imagination, the mountain as a space of freedom, the sense of the limitations it imposes, and the importance of learning to listen to nature. There will also be space for personal reflection in a place with a strong symbolic value; the Ombretta Valley is home to the geographical centre of the Dolomites World Heritage Site. The return to Malga Ciapela is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Incontri d’Alt(r)a Quota:
an international asset
““Incontri d’Alt(r)a Quota”” is a cultural event organised by the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation in collaboration with the mountain huts of the World Heritage Site. The sixth edition was sponsored by the Italian National Commission for UNESCO and is included in the calendar of celebrations for the “International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development” established by the United Nations. The second event will take place on 27 August at the Agostini mountain hut in the Brenta Dolomites, the arrival point of a geotrek organised in collaboration with the geologists of the MUSE Science Museum of Trento and the Adamello Brenta Nature Park – UNESCO Global Geopark. And the final event will be a photographic workshop curated by Moreno Geremetta at the Alpe di Tires mountain hut on 17 and 18 September. For information and registration, please send an email to press@dolomitiunesco.info