Italian

Dolomites Mountains, a place where days go by in peace, where you always see the brightness of the Pale Mountains. Over the centuries a lot of words have been used to describe these mountains, but of a thing I am certain: the Dolomites Mountains are true natural heaven, a rich show of the environment with rocks, woods and pastures.

Between all the mountains of the alpine chain, and the rest of the world, I can say with absolute certainty that the Dolomites are unique for their beauty and form.

During the sun rise to the sunset you can see them change. From the pale colour of the rocks calcification to the pink-red colour that contrasts with the sky blue and the white of the clouds. A pink mountain between the dark colour of the land and the bright colour of the sky. This is what occurs in that particular moment when the light touching the mountains makes an unusual effect on them.

I can describe the Dolomites Mountains as single mountains, or as groups of different peaks that identifies the geographical area. They have massive faces, where you can see the streakiness and the thicknesses of the rock. some times you can see them as erected towers, more or less big and high. You can still see some pinnacles or some spires with several forms. At the base of the rock there are wide screes that come down up to the margin of the woods and the below pastures.

The Dolomites Mountains are assembled in the three districts. In the Belluno district stand out villages such as Cortina d’Ampezzo, Sappada, Alleghe, Pieve di Cadore, San Vito di Cadore, Vodo di Cadore, Calalzo di Cadore, Cibiana di Cadore, Auronzo di Cadore, Arabba, Falcade and Caprile. In that of Trento are well known resorts such as Caldonazzo, Pergine Val Sugana, Levico, San Martino di Castrozza, Canazei, Moena, Predazzo and Segonzano. In the Bolzano district are well known the villages of: Bressanone, Brunico, Ortisei, Merano and Corvara. Partly the Dolomites arrive in Austria up to the Lienz area. It’s more than eight thousand years that people have been living in this area, but it’s only about 150 years that it has been discovered as a tourist location.

The first climbs and the conquest of the dolomitic peaks brought the knowledge of the beauty of these area. The immense forests, lakes, the lawns and the animals that live in the valleys up to the first rocks, contributed in making the visitor appreciate the charm of the mountains. To this in the years have been added the spreading of activities such as alpine and cross-country skiing, snowboarding and mountain climbing, trekking with excursions up the high routes of the Dolomites, passing by the alpine huts.

The Dolomite climate suffers, obviously, of the altitude. All of the Alps act as a barrier to the perturbations that from South come towards North. The showers are more frequent during the Summer and the location of the mountainsides makes the temperatures alter in different ways, if they give to the South or to the North side..

The perennial snow starts from different altitudes depending on the face side, at South around 2800 meters and at North starts already from 2300 meters.

Even the vegetation is different around the Dolomites Mountains, depending on the altitude and the face siding. The forests are made of trees like the beech, the spruce, the silver fir, the pine tree and the larch. Over 1800 or 2000 metres the forest gets rare leaving the place to shrubs, then going even further up you will find lichens and some moss attached to the stones and the rocks. The animal species that live the Dolomites are many. The most known are the dear, the steinbock, the suede and then there is the groundhog, the fox and the hare. Between many birds that live in these mountains has to be mentioned the eagle.