A “mountaineering” flash mob in Cortina to say no to new ski resorts

Entrepreneurs, professionals and simple mountain enthusiasts have gathered today on the peaks of the 5 Towers, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, to demonstrate against the construction of facilities and infrastructures in the Dolomites.

A vertical “flash mob”, in which 10 ropes reached the iconic peaks of the 5 Towers (Torre degli Inglesi, Torre Latina, Torre Grande Cima Ovest, Torre Grande Cima Sud and Torrione di mezzo) to display banners with a clear message: “No more plants, let’s respect the mountains”.
“We are not against skiing and we are not fundamentalists”, says Valerio Scarpa, on behalf of all participants, “We are people who love the mountains, who live them at 360° in all seasons, for work and for passion, and who are helplessly witnessing the systematic destruction of the few areas left free of lifts in the Dolomites”.
We are talking in particular about the works for the World Ski Championships and the Winter Olympics in Cortina, which are having an important impact on the slopes of the Tofane and the Five Towers, with significant expansion of facilities and infrastructure of various kinds.
The project of the Carosello in Marmolada, moreover, foresees the construction of two new chairlifts that from the Fedaia dam will allow to reach Sass Bianchet a few tens of meters from the current station of Punta Rocca, a chairlift along the lake at zero height difference and the restoration of two chairlifts currently in disuse, further compromising a difficult situation in a very delicate environment.
“What we are most outraged about, however, is the project “No Car”” says Guido Trevisan, owner and manager of the Pian dei Fiacconi Refuge “strongly desired by the Veneto Region (it provides an ambitious connection between the ski areas of Cortina, Arabba and Civetta); with the excuse of reducing the mobility of private vehicles on the Dolomite passes, it proposes an unsustainable alternative both from an environmental and economic point of view, permanently compromising two of the most valuable environmental and historical areas of the Veneto Dolomites: Giau and Sief”.
The group argues that each of these projects will affect the environmental quality of the mountains at the expense of future generations, proposing an idea of tourism that already shows its limits, and stresses that none of these has been in any way agreed with the population or local authorities of the places of intervention, as evidenced by the positions taken by some mayors.
“We are not against skiing and we are not fundamentalists, but we do not want these projects to be imposed on us from above without even having the opportunity to express our perplexities. The time has come to act and make our voice heard to defend the land we love”.