The Piolets d’Or debut in the Dolomites
The first was good. And now for the second! From 9 to 12 December, San Martino di Castrozza will host, for the second consecutive year, Piolets d’Or, an edition of the prestigious international mountaineering award.
Ph. Alberto Perer
World mountaineering looks to the Dolomites
The ApT of San Martino di Castrozza Primiero and Vanoi, in collaboration with Trentino Marketing and with the patronage of the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation, is finalizing the details of an edition that consolidates the relationship with the international award established in 1991 by Guy Chaumereuil and Jean-Claude Marmier and awarded by a jury of mountaineers and journalists. A new tribute, therefore, from world mountaineering to a territory where over the last 150 years the history of traditional mountaineering has been written thanks to names such as Angelo Dibona, Reinhold Messner, or famous climbers like Manolo, along with Paul Preuss, Tita Piaz, Michele Bettega, Luigi Micheluzzi, Emilio Comici, Riccardo Cassin, Cesare Maestri, Armando Aste, Georges Livanos, Pierre Mazeaud, Lino Lacedelli, and many more. A tribute also to a territory that saw the birth of high-altitude professions, when shepherds and hunters began working as alpine guides. The first was Michele Bettega, followed by Giuseppe Zecchini, Antonio Tavernaro, and Bortolo Zagonel, known as the “Eagles of San Martino.”
Climbing the World Heritage Site
While the Dolomites were included in the World Heritage List thanks to the Outstanding Universal Value of their landscape and geology, Alpinism also obtained in 2019 recognition as Intangible Cultural Heritage. It’s been popular since the 19th century as a preferred way of engaging with rock capable of narrating three hundred million years of Earth’s history, of which the pioneers of mountaineering and their followers explored and continue to explore the limits: this is why “Piolets d’or” celebrate commitment, longing for adventure and drive for exploration, recognising both individual and collective achievements. The appointment is, therefore, on 9 to 12 December in San Martino di Castrozza: the curiosity to know the winners of this worldwide recognition is about to be satisfied!
This activity is part of the project “Capacity building. Strengthening the social and regional capital of the Dolomites World Heritage Site (WHS) for lasting and sustainable development of local communities”, established with the support of Fondo Comuni Confinanti.