The new Dolomite trails have now been online for a few days on Google Street View.
The Google Trekker Loan Program is a global mapping program that is building a digital library of stunning sights and spectacular trails, from the craggy walls of Yosemite National Park to graceful Indonesian temples, that can be explored by everyone, simply by going online and connecting to Google Street View.
The UNESCO Dolomites Foundation signed up to this program last year, the first Italian organisation to do so. During phase 1, in autumn 2014, twenty trails were mapped, from the Dal Piaz refuge on the Vette Feltrine peaks to the Tosa Pedrotti refuge in the Brenta Dolomites.
Phase 2, conducted in summer 2015, added a further 14 trails that went online just a few days ago. Now you can climb up to the Mulaz refuge or follow the Bus del Buson or the Adolf Munkel Weg nature trails from the comfort of your own armchair, wherever on the planet you may be.
The mapped trails are recorded digitally in situ and then transferred online and made available on Google Street View. The recording job is done by an intrepid hiker lugging the Google Trekker backpack equipped with 15 cameras taking thousands of scenic shots. Once put together, the images tell a virtual tale of the hike in the shadow of the Pale Mountains taken by the photographer.
The many trails now mapped cover all nine of the systems that make up the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site.