Mountain People

In the mountains, you are in direct contact with nature; you must love and respect it if you want nature to respect you. Mountain people have always known this; hardened and hardworking, they live with woods and peaks that, even in silence, speak to you.

The Dolomites are a priceless gift; tourism has made them accessible to anyone who wants to experience them, always offering emotions that stay in your heart.

Like a book that is slowly leafed through, we could move toward future pages, still to be written, or return to pages already written, reflecting on what once was.

We would remember how, in the absence of ski lifts, people would climb with skis and climbing skins and then descend into the valley along little-trodden paths: a physical exercise that also toughened the mind and that everyone interpreted according to their abilities. It required effort and sacrifice, but this taught us that without sacrifice (the ascent), you cannot earn the proper reward (the descent).

If this was alpine skiing in the past, a similar story applies to what is now cross-country skiing, which was once one and the same with the former. Two pieces of wood on your feet and you pushed yourself along; now we have better equipment, we can go through the woods with less effort and greater safety. And we can go into the woods with snowshoes on our feet, the "ciaspe," we can walk on deep snow and reach destinations that, in winter, are pure magic.

But let's not forget one of the historic tools, the sled. Even today, adults and children alike enjoy sliding down long and short routes, unforgettable moments for the little ones.

We could go on for a long time, to understand how the mountains can give so much, and perhaps even more in difficult times, when we have to give up certain comforts and privileges. It is up to us to know how to interpret what life offers us: pure air and great beauty—mountain people know this well.