On Saturday, 16 September in Pordenone, as part of the “pordenonelegge” book festival, the Dolomites World Heritage Special Award went to Davide Longo for his book, “Montagna si scrive stampatello [Mountain is Written in Upper Case]” (Salani). On Saturday 14 October in Tolmezzo, as part of the “Leggimontagna” event, the Special Award was also presented to Maurizio Dematteis and Michele Nardelli for “Inverno liquido. La crisi climatica, le terre alte e la fine della stagione dello sci di massa [Liquid Winter. The Climate Crisis, the Highlands and the End of the Mass Ski Season]” (Derive Approdi).
Mauro Pascolini confers the Dolomites World Heritage Special Award to Maurizio Dematteis and Michele Nardelli at Leggimontagna. Ph. Federico Gallo
A mountain in upper case
A trip can be life-changing. And there is a good chance that this will happen, if the trip is a five-day trek in the Dolomites. Among other things, Davide Longo‘s work, honoured by the jury as part of “pordenonelegge“, touches on the theme of educating the new generations who are visiting the mountains: the emotions experienced by the protagonist, who comes into contact with the beauty of the Dolomites for the first time, take the reader on a journey through the risks and difficulties of the mountain environment, to be experienced with the awareness and responsibility that underlie UNESCO recognition.
Climate crisis and the ski industry
The jury’s motivation for recognising the work of Maurizio Dematteis and Michele Nardelli at “Leggimontagna” acknowledges the value of the survey that the authors conducted between the Alps and the Apennines, which identifies “the now unsustainable situation of the tourism industry in terms of snow and alpine skiing, which is facing a crisis originated by the tremendous propagation of housing facilities and ski lifts. This is highlighted even more by the fact that climate change is drastically altering the situation with a marked decrease in snowfall and, an evident melting of glaciers”.