There has been some action to demonstrate against the proposed expansion of the lift system in the Dolomites, below I have translated the press release by Planet Mountain. If these proposals are of interest to you and you love the Dolomites, please feel free to disseminate this article (at the bottom) and to raise this with any bodies you might feel would be able to help. There are already 1200km of piste in the mountains and the olympics are being used to force through this huge expansion through areas of extreme historical and environmental significance, indeed the areas around Passo Giau and Monte Sief have one of the highest environmental protections afforded in Italy.
"We receive and gladly publish the press release about the 'mountaineering' flash mob staged today on the Cinque Torri (Cortina, Dolomites) to protest against the new facilities and constructions in the Dolomites.
Entrepreneurs, professionals and simple mountain enthusiasts gathered today on the peaks of the 5 Torri, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, to demonstrate against the construction of lift facilities and infrastructure in the Dolomites.
A vertical "flash mob", in which 10 groups reached the iconic summits of the 5 Torri (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 lifts, we respect the mountains ”.
"We are not against skiing and we are not fundamentalists", says Valerio Scarpa, on behalf of all the participants, "We are people who love the mountains, who live to be in them during all seasons, for work and play, and who they are helplessly witnessing the systematic destruction of the few areas left free from facilities in the Dolomites ”.
We speak in particular of 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 group and Cinque Torri, with significant expansions of systems and infrastructures of various kinds.
The "Carosello in Marmolada" project also provides for the construction of two new chairlifts that from the Fedaia dam will allow skiers to reach Sass Bianchet a few meters from the current Punta Rocca station, of a chairlift along the lake with zero altitude difference and the restoration of two chairlifts currently in disuse, further compromising a difficult situation in a very delicate environment.
"However, what most angers us is the "No Car "project" says Guido Trevisan, owner and manager of the Pian dei Fiacconi Refuge which is "strongly desired by the Veneto Region (it provides for an ambitious connection between the ski areas of Cortina, Arabba and Civetta) ; with the provided excuse of reducing the density of private vehicle traffic across the Dolomite passes and it proposes an unsustainable alternative both from an environmental and an economic point of view, definitively compromising two of the areas of greatest environmental and historical value in the Venetian Dolomites: the Giau pass and the Sief pass".
The group claims that each of these projects will affect the environmental quality of the mountains at the expense of future generations, supporting an unsustainable vision of tourism that is already at or beyond its limits, and stresses that none of these proposals have been agreed with the population or with local commune administrations, as evidenced by the positions taken by some local 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 concerns. The time has come to act and make our voices heard to defend the land we love "."
https://www.planetmountain.com/it/notizie/ambiente/un-flash-mob-sulle-5-tor...
