Summer 2018
ALPE Alpe di Siusi Magazine
CASTELROTTO · SIUSI ALLO SCILIAR · FIÈ ALLO SCILIAR · ALPE DI SIUSI · TIRES AL CATINACCIO
Route of the Trunks Through the gorge to the Sciliar mountain
Mountain tales Visiting Hansjörg and Margot at the Rifugio Bergamo mountain hut
Forest bathing In search of nothingness
Komma Graphik - photo: Helmuth Rier
without auto-mobile
Affordably and conveniently to the trekking wonderland with the Combi Card or the Seiser Alm Card Gold
> unrestricted use of the Alpe di Siusi Aerial Cableway and the Alpe di Siusi Express (route 10) > unrestricted use of the Shuttle Bus Service (routes 2, 3, 3A, 4, 5, 13 and 15), the Almbus (route 11) and the Bus Piz (route 14) > unrestricted use of the Bullaccia Aerial Cableway, the Aerial Lifts Spitzbühl, Panorama, Florian (Alpe di Siusi) and Marinzen (Castelrotto)
Combi Card 3 in 7
41.00 Euro
Combi Card 7
54.00 Euro
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89.00 Euro
Valid for 7 days (after first use) | 09/06 > 14/10/2018
Foto : He
Seiser Alm Card Gold*
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Combi Card 14
80.00 Euro
Over the course of 7 days (after first use)
Valid for 7 days (after first use)
Valid for 14 days (after first use)
> 3 times to the Alpe di Siusi and back, with the Alpe di Siusi Aerial Cableway or the Alpe di Siusi Express (route 10) > unrestricted use of the Shuttle Bus Service (routes 2, 3, 3A, 4, 5, 13, 15), the Almbus (route 11) and the Bus Piz (route 14)
> unrestricted use of the Alpe di Siusi Aerial Cableway and the Alpe di Siusi Express (route 10) > unrestricted use of the Shuttle Bus Service (routes 2, 3, 3A, 4, 5, 13, 15), the Almbus (route 11) and the Bus Piz (route 14)
> unrestricted use of the Alpe di Siusi Aerial Cableway and the Alpe di Siusi Express (route 10) > unrestricted use of the Shuttle Bus Service (routes 2, 3, 3A, 4, 5, 13, 15), the Almbus (route 11) and the Bus Piz (route 14)
The Combi Card and the Seiser Alm Card Gold are not transferable! Children (born after 01/06/2010) and persons on wheelchairs ride free of charge. Juniors (born after 01/06/2002) pay only half fare. *The Holiday area Alpe di Siusi Live Card, which is not available for purchase and is issued free of charge to the guests by the participating accomodation, includes a price reduction for the Combi Card and the Seiser Alm Card Gold. Multi-storey car park in the package with purchase of a Combi Card or Seiser Alm Card Gold: 1 day: 3.00 €, 3 days: 8.00 €, 7 days: 11.00 €, 14 days: 17.00 €, 1 month: 25,00 €
Alpe di Siusi Aerial Cableway 39040 Siusi allo Sciliar · Via Sciliar, 39 Tel. 0471 704 270 · Fax 0471 704 269 www.seiseralmbahn.it · info@seiseralmbahn.it
Photo: Helmuth Rier
Editorial & Contents
Dear guests! Action, adventure, Alpine living: whether hiking, climbing, running and biking, paragliding, swimming, enjoying a typical snack or taking a relaxing hay bath, in the Alpe di Siusi holiday area, ideas are endless. The spotlight of this issue falls on the historic Rifugio Bergamo mountain hut, which played a central role in the exploitation of the Dolomites and is now run with passionate dedication by a landlord couple from Tires. Daniel Pattis, another young man from Tires, has made history by claiming three national and international mountain running titles in 2017. Consciously switching off during a walk in the fresh forest air is a relaxing activity that also offers a number of health benefits, while another invitation to stop and reflect for a moment comes in the form of the newly-created art installa-
tion beside the Laghetto di Fiè lake. The pace picks up along the “Route of the Trunks” when the cattle are driven up to the Sciliar in spring and back down again in autumn. The construction of the path is vital to the procession. Unique architecture can also be seen in the beautiful alpine huts and barns, which blend in so harmoniously with the landscape of the Alpe di Siusi holiday area. Carpenter Toni Rier gives us an insight into the traditional methods of building them. Culinary delights take centre-stage at Castelrotto’s traditional dumpling festival. For lovers of good food who have acquired a taste for dumplings, the strawberry dumpling recipe is sure to hit the spot.
usi holidays. Apart from important information regarding public services and interesting events, it gives much advice regarding the best restaurants, inns and clubs as well as many attractive shopping possibilities in the villages of the plateau and its surrounding areas. This magazine also contains the highlights in our events calendar. Should you decide to participate, your holiday album will be full of unforgettable happy moments.
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We wish you a marvellous and unforgettable holiday with enjoyable and relaxing moments.
Page 40
The “Marende“ platter Page 6
Between the walls: The “Route of Trunks“ Page 14
Carpenter Toni Rier: Big farms, big barns Page 20
Visiting the Rifugio Bergamo mountain hut Page 26
Interview with Daniel Pattis Page 30
“Forest bathing“: In search of nothingness Page 34
Works of art near the Laghetto di Fiè lake The Dumplings Festival in Castelrotto Page 44
Eduard Tröbinger Scherlin President for Alpe di Siusi Marketing and the Tourist Offices of Castelrotto, Siusi allo Sciliar, Fiè allo Sciliar, Alpe di Siusi and Tires al Catinaccio
Strawberry dumplings Page 46
Summer highlights 2018 Page 48
Preview winter 2018/19 Page 50
Around & about
ALPE wishes to be your daily guide through your Alpe di Si-
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Half past three in South Tyrol In days gone by, the Marende platter was served to the farmers in the afternoons after their work in the fields was done. By tradition – and it’s no different today - the very best of regional ingredients are set out on a simple wooden board: South Tyrolean speck, either in a large chunk or sliced into thin matchsticks, herby cheese made from mountain milk, smoked sausage and South Tyrol’s distinctive flatbread, the Schüttelbrot. To accompany it all, true connoisseurs drink a glass of South Tyrolean red wine. The Marende remains a tradition among farmers to this day, and no local tavern or mountain hut menu would be complete without it. What could be better than combining this delicious regional fare with a breathtaking view over Europe’s largest mountain pasture and the surrounding UNESCO World Heritage Dolomite peaks?
Text: Denise Frötscher Photo: Helmuth Rier
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Between the Walls 25 tonnes of steel, five bridges ranging from 15 to over a hundred metres in length, all leading through a narrow gorge ... this is the “Route of the Trunks” (known in Italian as the Sentiero dei tronchi and in German as the Prügelweg), a trail of impressively intricate viaduct bridges and paths that winds its way spectacularly over and alongside the rushing Rio Sciliar stream and through a narrow ravine towards the Sesselschwaige mountain hut.
T Text: Sabine Funk Photo: Helmuth Rier
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The elaborate route starting from Fiè allo Sciliar is an inspiration, and not only for technically-minded mountain hikers. Even although they generally have the road all to themselves, human traffic is not, as it happens, the main target group of this impressive route to the emblem mountain of South Tyrol. The considerable effort in construc-
tion and maintenance of the route is actually the requirement of a select circle of over 300 four-legged itinerants who cross the Rio Sciliar twice a year when they are driven from Fiè, Aica di Fiè and Umes to the ancestral high pasture lands on the Sciliar. The picturesque Sentiero dei tronchi, variously known as the Knüppelweg and the Pruggn by
locals, is an indispensable part of the agricultural infrastructure for the livestock farmers of Fiè. Were it not for the elaborately secured stretches of this route between Peter Frag and Sesselschwaige mountain hut, the nourishing summer pastures would simply be inaccessible to the livestock.
While the convenient tourist route is considered the easiest access to the table-top mountain for human beings, this access, which detours across the Alpe di Siusi, would be all but impossible for the livestock. The rocky Schäufelesteig, the most direct old trail to the Sciliar from Fiè, would be too steep for the cattle. »
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»
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The Sentiero dei tronchi is, then, a fundamental part of the long history of pasture farming on the Sciliar and also of the tradition of the Fiè hay baths which originated here, both during the haymaking season on the high pastures and in later days, when the Sciliar hay was brought to the valley on rustic carts to supply the bathing centres with the precious raw material for their spa treatments. The management of the Sciliar mountain refuge huts was also highly dependent on the route, as it was used by the pack-mules to bring supplies along the route until the freight cable car was commissioned in 1969. In late spring, the cattle congregate on the Tuff Alm mountain hut or, depending on the hamlet of origin, on other pastures at a lower altitude, and proceed onwards to the Sciliar in early July. The ascent leads through all the way through the gorge, roughly one kilometre long and just a few metres wide, carved out of the rock by the Rio Sciliar as it coursed down to the valley. Depending on the food supply, which varies from year to year on both high and low pastures, the cattle are usually driven home again at the beginning to the middle of September.
A complex construction. The gorge was made accessible to hoofed fauna many years ago with the laying of the countless wooden logs across the river, to which the “Route of the Trunks” owes its various names. In the past, these logs were laid directly on the bottom of the ravine on the river bed, where they were exposed to the raging torrent from below and, in spring time, to the vast quantities of snow and boulders from above. Ongoing maintenance was unavoidable. For centuries on end the route was maintained and repaired for centuries by the farmers, each of whom had to contribute a specified amount of labour per head of cattle. In good years the damage was little and the work was manageable. However, many of the elderly people in Fiè still remember the winters of the 1950s and 1970s, when the road was all but completely devastated. In those times, over 500 farm animals spent the summer on the Sciliar. In 1994, the storm damage was so great that Office for Torrent and Avalanche Control began works on a full overhaul of the route. It was closed off completely for one year, and required a colossal effort: two walking excavators were brought into »
Oncoming traffic: at the end of september, you should first make sure that it is not the day of the downhill drive.
Summer | ALPE 9
Without the Sentiero dei tronchi, the alpine pastures on the Sciliar would simply be inaccessible to the livestock.
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The modern support structure (made of steel) is resistant against the high level of humidity in the gorge. The shape of the larch logs has a long tradition.
use for the task, and almost ten workers lived in containers below the Sesselschwaige mountain hut for the entire summer. In 1995, the year when the now raised Sentiero dei Tronchi was built, the gorge was impassable for the entire construction period and the cattle were driven along the alternative Zirmwaldsteig route, above the gorge to the right: a risky venture indeed, and one for which the trail was ill-equipped. The main change in this initial reconstruction was to raise the path from the bottom of the ravine to a height of two to three metres. Some features of the construction works were new, while others brought little change to the traditional appearance of the route. The raising of the trail required a load-bearing structure to be built, and a surface which could be walked by both humans and animals. The characteristic shape of the larch logs remains the same as those laid on the stream bed in earlier days, split along their length on-site using simple tools so that the sharp edge of the logs provides a non-slip surface. Some hikers feel that the jagged surface is hard on the knees, especially when walking downhill, but if the bridges were floored with round or smooth beams, the high level of humidity in the gorge would transform it into an out-and-out toboggan slope that would be all but impassable without risk. Just 15 years after the elaborate 300,000 euro reconstruction of the route, however, the first signs of deterioration were beginning to show in the bridges and tracks of the beautiful new trail: The ever-present damp in the gorge caused rapid decay and the outer layer of the supporting cross beams and longitudinal beams had rotted away, with the resultant risk of collapse at any moment. In the summers of 2011 and 2012, therefore, human intervention was called for once more and the Torrent Control Office undertook an even more radical second overhaul of the route. They focussed this time on the five bridges, four of which were reconstructed in wood, but laid this time on a steel support. It took almost 8,000 working hours for the expert torrent control workers to lay the route on a new, solid foundation of galvanised steel and larch wood. All the building materials, including a walking excavator - without which a construction project in terrain of this nature would be unthinkable - had to be flown in by helicopter. The logistics of the building site organisation was a mi-
nor work of art. The trail was closed to hikers for a whole summer once again, but, unlike the works of the 1990s, was provisionally opened for the cattle to travel up and down the gorge at pasture times in order to avoid the diversion along the hazardous Zirmwaldsteig trail. Nowadays, the Sentiero dei tronchi appears to be a solid, almost indestructible structure. In the design phase, great care was taken to ensure that the individual parts of the support structure can be replaced and repaired if necessary. Among traditionalists there was some degree of resistance to the use of building materials that were not sourced in the local area, such as the highly-visible steel which has replaced the romantic wooden support under the viaduct. But at the end of the day, despite its high aesthetic value and uniqueness, the Sentiero dei tronchi serves an agricultural purpose first and foremost, and should be viewed on a practical level. And it certainly doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of hiking on the Sciliar through the cool, shady gorge on a hot summer day. However, before you set off on a hike on Saturdays at the end of May and at the end of September, you should first make sure that it is not the day of the uphill or downhill drive. If you were to bump into a herd of hungry Tyrolean Greys or the equally beautiful Simmental cattle as they stampede along the route in their haste to get to the pasture, you would certainly wish that you’d left the trail to the four-footed itinerants and your own journey along the “Route of the Trunks” for another day, free of horned oncoming traffic. «
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Foto: SAM/Helmuth Rier
The fascinating landscape of the Dolomites is particularly suggestive thanks to the strange rock formations and the unmistakeable colours.
The myth of the Dolomites In South Tyrolean extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner’s words, they are “the most beautiful mountains in the world“. The incomparable beauty of the Dolomites is widely renowned and for many they are synonymous with excellence in summer holidays. The mountains of the Dolomites can be thought of as a fossilised coral reef arching up into the sky in spectacular fashion. Thanks to their monumental beauty as well as their geological and geomorphologic significance, the so-called Pale Mountains were awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 2009. Divided into nine areas and forming part of the Sciliar-Catinaccio Natural Park, the
Euringer peaks, stands out as one of the signature landmarks of South Tyrol. The Catinaccio massif, with its numerous peaks, is also known far beyond the country’s borders. The most striking part of the massif is the Catinaccio D’Antermoia peak, which stands at a height of 3,002 metres. The natural park also includes the mountain forests around Siusi, Fiè and Tires, and the Ciamin Valley. «
Dolomites are considered one of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the world. Sciliar-Catinaccio Nature Park: South Tyrol’s oldest natural reserve, a 7,291-hectare park, is situated in the western Dolomites and was founded in 1974. The Sciliar is an impressive mountain range whose emblematic outline, that includes the Santner and
Bruneck Brunico
Südtirol Brixen Bressanone
Meran Merano
Lienz Toblach Dobbiaco
St. Vigil S. Vigilio
5 St. Ulrich
Kastelruth Ortisei Castelrotto Seis am Schlern Seiser Alm Siusi allo Sciliar Alpe di Siusi Völs am Schlern
Dolomites World Heritage UNESCO 1
Pelmo, Croda da Lago
2 Marmolada 3 Pale San Martino, San Lucano Dolomiti Bellunesi, Vette Feltrine 4 Friulian and d’Oltre Piave Dolomites 5 Northern Dolomites 6 Puez-Odle 7 Sciliar Catinaccio, Latemar 8 Bletterbach 9 Brenta Dolomites
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Cortina d’Ampezzo
Fiè allo Sciliar
Bozen Bolzano
Tiers/Tires
7
Canazei
2
8
Alleghe
Pieve di Cadore
1
4
Zoldo
Cavalese
Agordo
3
Longarone
Cimolais
Pordenone
Madonna di Campiglio Fiera di Primiero
9 Trento
Belluno
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Trentino
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Pordenone
Your real estate agency in the Sciliar region Immobilien Immobiliare Real estate
Immobilien · Immobiliare · Real estate
Via O. v. Wolkenstein 14 /1
I - 39040 CASTELROTTO (BZ)
info@agentur-profanter.com T. +39 0471 707248
+39 348 3832788
www.agentur - profanter.com
Profanter Immobilien
Office hours: Monday to Friday from 8 to12.30 a.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m.
Armin Rag. Profanter
Roswitha and Toni Rier manage a successful carpentry business: Wood has future.
Big farms, big barns Master carpenter Toni Rier has built countless barns and alpine huts together with his carpenters. His daughter Roswitha is now following in his footsteps and breaking new ground along the way.
T The terminology has changed over the course of time. In the last century, a farm consisted of what were known as the Feuerhaus and the Futterhaus – respectively, the “fire house” for the family and the “feed house” for the animals. Today, the terms used for these building have evolved to suit modern necessity, and they are now known as the Wohnhaus and Stadel – the family house and the barn - the Stadel, a word which fails to do justice to the many purposes which the building actually serves; while the term Stadel formerly referred only to the top floor of the farm building, where the bales were stored, nowadays it comprises the entire building where livestock are housed, milk is processed, hay and fodder are stored and often agricultural machinery is kept.
Traditionally new. Over the last few decades, numerous barns have been rebuilt in the villages and hamlets below the Sciliar. These impressive, imposing buildings are built almost entirely in wood and although they have retained the traditional style of construction to the outside, they are equipped with all the innovations of up-to-theminute agricultural technology within.
Text: Rosa Maria Erlacher Photo: Helmuth Rier
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These new buildings have come into being with the generational change on the farms; having trained at agricultural schools and training courses, the young farmers of today are bringing new knowledge to the table on how cattle farming can endure
even in the less-profitable mountainous areas. Subsidised by EU funding for mountain farming, they are highly motivated to invest in the latest technology. However, they also have to expand the farm buildings. “Basically, they could be taken for industrial warehouses to look at them,” says a farmer. “But we don’t want that. We want to keep up the tradition of our beautiful old barns. “ And who knows this tradition better than Toni Rier? As one of many children, Toni grew up on a »
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mountain farm, attended a building trade school after completing carpentry and set up his own business soon afterwards. Together with his wife, he built up a successful carpentry business which he handed over to his daughter Roswitha some years ago, at the age of almost eighty. Toni Rier has built many barns and alpine huts over the course of his working life. Wood is his el-
ement, so to speak, and tradition his passion. “At one time, the farmer felled the trees in his own forest, mostly in winter, and brought the trunks to the farm, where the carpenters sawed it into beams,” says Toni of his working days. The remaining wood was cut into planks at the sawmills, where it was stored until it was sufficiently dry to be used to build a barn.
Past and present. As soon as the barn walls were up, the carpenters’ work could begin. “Traditionally, the feed house was built on three floors,” says Toni Rier. The byre was on the ground floor, the Dille (hay barn) on the floor above, while grain was stored in the loft. A “barn bridge” on the rear wall of the mountain-side of the building provided access to the loft. “The haymaking was a job for strapping lads and men,” Toni recalls. They had to hoist linen sheets filled with hay bales onto their shoulders and lug them over the bridge into the barn, and then pitchfork the dried grass through a trapdoor into the Dille below. “It was a hard job,” says Toni. Today the farm is fully mechanised; the farmer brings the grass to the hayloft in the barn. Using a hay crane, which can be moved from one
end of the roof to the other, the fresh hay is set down in a separate part of the barn where it is gently dried by a built-in dry blower and, if necessary, fed through the fodder hole into the byre.
Traditional hipped roofs. After Toni’s eloquent illustration of the past and present, I took some time to visit and compare old and new barns. In their basic construction, little has changed the
valley gable side and the eaves sides are all surrounded by a projecting balcony with drying racks. The flat saddle roofs are characteristic of the barn style in the area below the Sciliar. Traditionally covered with straw, they are generally tiled nowadays and almost always hipped on the two gable ends. Beneath the sun-facing gable, wide drying poles beams are slotted diagonally into the framework of the barn, which consists of interlocked wooden beams. In order to protect the balcony from rain, the floor above projects beyond the balcony, and is supported by load-bearing beams. On a number of new barns, I noticed curious-looking chimneys protruding from the roofs. A young farmer slaked my curiosity: “These are the exhaust chimneys for the ventilation system in the stable and for the ventilation system of the hay drying chamber in the barn,” he explains.
Traditionally or modern wood has been the most important building material in the Alps for centuries.
Alpine huts on the Alpe di Siusi. Just as the beautiful barns blend magnificently into the landscape of the low mountain range, the pretty alpine huts are every bit as much a part of the Alpe di Siusi. These huts used to be called Schwaigen (“Alpine dairy”), and were formerly only inhabited and
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managed in summer. Modern agriculture has stepped in since those days, and the huts have been expanded and adapted to suit the changing requirements of time. Toni Rier has built many alpine huts in the course of his working years, with wooden shingles on the roof, in keeping with the custom of so many centuries. “We used squared timber for the huts, but roundwood for the hay barns,” he explains. Cooking huts are the small, pretty little huts that were once reserved for cooking on an open fire. The Dille hay barns, on the other hand, are the larger ones with no windows and balconies, where the farmers then stored the alpine hay before sledging it down to the valley in winter. Everybody who helped with the haymaking also slept here on soft beds of hay, brought in in good time for a restful sleep. “It may be that in the huts today, the dairymaid no longer cooks Mus buckwheat porridge on the open fire and hay is no longer stored in the barn,” notes Toni. But the pristine huts continue to fill our dreams with the mystical magic of this area, the largest mountain plateau of Europe.
Wood constructions are sustainable and blend in well with the surrounding landscape.
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The modernity of wood. For several years now, Toni’s daughter Roswitha has run the successful carpentry business. Together with around thirty employees, she continues her father’s life’s work and has proved herself to be a skilled working partner for architects who use wood as a fundamental stylistic element in their construction. “Wood has been the most important building material in the Alps for centuries, and is now undergoing an innovative rediscovery,” explains the entrepreneur. Ecological construction is bringing wood back into the local consciousness more than ever before, reinterpreted as a natural building material; Roswitha is well-prepared for the challenge. “I have taken training and specialisation courses and am in a position to offer a wide range of construction concepts, from the traditional alpine hut to the prefabricated log cabin, built fully in wood,” she affirms. And what a wonderful thing it is: wood grows in our forests, wood is sustainable, and wood has a future once more. «
1
Toni Rier’s favourite places
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1 The Vedetta del Re (“King’s Vantage Point”) in the Laranza Forest, because I often go there with my wife to enjoy the peace and the views. 2 T he Calvary Hill in Castelrotto, because the splendour of the Stations of the Cross and the view over the village of Castelrotto never fails to move me.
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3 The Bullaccia on the Alpe di Siusi, because the mountain pastures there are so beautiful. 4 T he St. Valentine Church above Siusi allo Sciliar, because it‘s such a wonderful spot to relax and enjoy the views.
4
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The Val Ciamin valley, one of the most beautiful valleys of the Dolomites.
Mountain tales The Rifugio Bergamo mountain hut offers shelter to the climbers, mountaineers and hikers who are out touring the breathtaking mountain landscape around the famous Catinaccio. The hut is run by Hansjörg and Margot – and there’s no room there for stress.
K Known as the Grasleitenhütte in German, the Rifugio Bergamo took its original name from the German Leite - a steep mountain slope used as pasture land for sheep and goats. Located at 2,165 m in the midst of the rocky slopes directly below the Torre del Principe, the Cima di Mezzo del Principe and the Cima di Valbona, the hut was built by the Leipzig section of the German-Austrian Alpine Association and was inaugurated in 9 September 1887. It was designed by architect Hugo Licht, who died in 1923 and was also commissioned to plan the new town hall in Leipzig. Initially, the hut was not managed on-premises, and climbers picked up the key to its doors down in the valley. The location for the hut was suggested by famed Tyrolean mountaineer Johann Santner, who opened the Santner Pass - later named for him - in 1878 together with
mountaineer Alois Villgrattner from Tires. Santner also prompted the local council of Tires to provide the land for the hut free of charge, and to sell the wood to build it at an affordable price. The limestone was burned at the Buco dell’Orso and then hauled up the mountains to build the hut, opening the Catinaccio area of the Val Ciamin in the process. On completion of the two extensions in 1897/98 and 1909/10, the Rifugio Bergamo was upgraded from a self-catering style bothy to a refuge hut with guest room, dining room, bedrooms and mattress dorms. At this time, from the turn of the century to the First World War, there were countless first ascents in the Catinaccio area, and the Rifugio Bergamo was used as a set-off point for climbing tours on the Croda and »
Text: Katja Sanin Photo: Helmuth Rier
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the Cima di Valbona by local mountaineers such as Franz Schroffenegger and Franz Wenter, and also international climbing greats including Hans Dülfer. After the First World War, when South Tyrol was handed over to Italy, the hut was expropriated by the Italian state and handed over to the Bergamo section of the Italian Alpine Association CAI (Club
South Tyrolean hospitality at Margot and Hansjörg’s Rifugio Bergamo.
Alpino Italiano). It was at this time that the hut came by its Italian title of the Rifugio Bergamo. Alongside 24 other huts in South Tyrol which had been expropriated by Italy, the Rifugio Bergamo became the property of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano in 1999. Since 2015, decisions regarding leases, tenancy administration and reconstruction are overseen by a joint committee of the South Tyrolean government, South Tyrol Alpine Association and the CAI. The Rifugio Bergamo has always been run by tenants from Tires. It has retained its present-day shape and size since 1910; the panelling and furnishings in the guest room and dining room, both staircases to the bedrooms and storehouses and the panelling on the ground floor and both upper floors also date back to this period. Both of the cast-iron, cylindrical ovens, still in perfect working order, come from the two previous buildings, and guests continue to dry their sweat-soaked t-shirts around it to this day.
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Mountain refuge. Even today, the Rifugio Bergamo is still seen as something of a living room for climbers and mountaineers. It is one of the bestloved of all the mountain huts, and not only among natives of Tires. The host of the hut is a climber himself, and climbing has seen a period of revival within its walls over the past few years. Tires is a decidedly mountaineering village and has always been the birthplace of outstanding climbers. In
the last few decades a new generation of climbers have come of age and headed out into the lands of the Catinaccio on their first tours. “It’s nice to look out on the climbers from the terrace, serve them a refreshing glass of juice or a beer, and hear them go over the technical ins-and-outs as they discuss their route for the umpteenth time,” says the landlady. And it’s not just climbers and mountaineers who come to the Rifugio Bergamo; last summer, for example, a young woman booked a weekend here to simply switch off and forget about work for a while. She enjoyed her stay at the hut so much that she spent her whole week’s holiday at the hut rather than the one night which she had originally planned. Today, the main clientele at the hut consists of holidaymakers and leisure-time sports enthusiasts who call in at the Rifugio Bergamo as they make their way through the Val Ciamin. In the 1960s, however, the hut was the second home for the young mountain enthusiasts from the village »
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through the Val Ciamin Valley; from Compaccio on the Alpe di Siusi along trail no. 2 via the Panorama, Punta d’Oro, the Forcella dei Denti di Terra Rossa ridge, the Rifugio Alpe di Tires hut and the Molignon Pass in around four hours, and from Saltria along trail no. 8 to the Tirler Hotel and along the forest road to the Dialer Hotel, past the Rifugio Alpe di Tires hut and the Molignon pass, also in around four hours.
Mountaineers are really fascinated by the originality of the Val Ciamin valley.
of Tires itself. At that time, the young folk had no money and a great deal fewer opportunities than the youth of today. During those politically turbulent times, one of the young students and climber also had contact with the South Tyrol activists, and was familiar with the scene. In the months following the “Night of Fire” on 11 June 1961 when 37 electricity pylons were blown up in the lands around Bolzano, the Italian Carabinieri carried out a wave of arrests. He felt safe at the Rifugio Bergamo, where he was cared for and mothered by “Proder Rosl,” as the landlady at the time, Rosa Weißenegger, was affectionately known. The “Night of Fire” was the pinnacle of the years of bombing in South Tyrol and brought the “South Tyrol problem”, with its political tension between the German and Italian speaking groups, to the headlines of the international press.
The hut through the years. The Rifugio Bergamo is accessible from the Malga Ciamin restaurant in Tires in around two and a half hours
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Since 2009, the hut has been run by Tires native Hansjörg Resch and his young family. “I’m actually a builder by trade, but with all the bureaucracy that we tradesmen have to deal with nowadays, I talked over the prospect of running a mountain hut together with my wife Margot, who loves the mountains as much as I do myself. When we heard that Karl and Agatha Ladstätter weren’t planning to carry on any longer, we decided to put our names forward,” says the landlord, who at the time had a daughter of just nine months old and a second child on the way. This summer, the Resch family will be heading into their tenth season at the Rifugio Bergamo, which they run in person from the beginning of June to the beginning of October. With their skills in building and graphic design, the young couple have made their own mark on the hut over the last ten years. First and foremost, it has been modernised through and through, from the WCs, showers and bathrooms, the windows and the outer walls through to the mattresses and the cold storage room. Margot has designed a new logo which now adorns the menus and the new bedlinen and creates a cosy atmosphere within the hut, which has never lost its essence as a mountain refuge. “The nice thing about running a mountain hut is that every day is different. For four months you don’t have a spare minute, but we’ve got used to hut life with our colleagues and our guests, and enjoy our summers in the mountains,” says Margot, adding: “There are so many different people who come here, but they all have one thing in common – love of the mountains and nature. Naturally, we try to offer our guests a certain level of comfort and to satisfy their requests, but a refuge hut can’t be confused with a hotel. Sometimes guests might want their own table, but it’s not possible due to the lack of room. However, the initial scepticism and shyness of the guests almost always gives way to good cheer as soon as they start speaking to the other people at the table about where they come from and share
their hiking routes and experiences, strangers no more,” says the landlady.
A typical day at a mountain refuge hut. Most guests stay for one night and set off on their hut or long-distance hiking tour the following day. The hosts’ day begins at 5.15 am when they prepare breakfast, which is served to guests from 6.30 to 9 am. All guests are up and off by 10 at the latest and then it’s time to clean the rooms and dorms, dust and clean the guest room and get the paperwork done. The cook begins his preparations in the kitchen and at around 11 am, before the first guests arrive, Hansl and Margot sit out in the sun on the terrace with their colleagues and have coffee together. All day long it’s all systems go to a greater or lesser extent depending on the weather, and dinner is served at 6.30 pm. The hosts and staff have dinner at around 8 pm, the breakfast tables are laid for the next day, and the peace of the mountains reigns throughout the hut at 10 pm.
nings of dance, music, cards and storytelling, even at these isolated heights the hut is always bustling with life. Margot had one wish to celebrate her fist anniversary as landlady of the hut: a party. And this summer the South Tyrolean band “Queen Laurin” will be coming to the hut for the tenth time to play their legendary blues evening at the Rifugio Bergamo. “For us musicians it’s a job and a half to organise this kind of concert evening, what with transporting our instruments here and the final stretch on foot, but the atmosphere is incredible,
Two or three mornings a week Hansl heads to the village to stock up on supplies of fresh goods such as bread and vegetables. He ensures that stocks are replenished and that all the facilities - the goods cable car, the generator and the cold store - are in good working order. In the past, everything was brought to the hut by mules and Haflinger horses. In the 1960s, the freight cable car was built, and the hut landlords can drive there by jeep. The last stretch up to the hut is his training route almost every day and he manages it in just 30 minutes. The Ciamin Valley is classed as one of the most beautiful valleys of the Dolomites and is a popular training route with mountain runners. A good many locals love the sociable, hospitable atmosphere at the Rifugio Bergamo and head there regularly on their days off or after a day’s work to keep in shape. Two sisters who are friends of the hosts came up with the idea of running a sort of contest on who comes to the hut most over the course of the season, and a board has been hung up on the wall where stalwarts’ visits to the hut are chalked up. Last year, the record went to Georg Jocher from the Oltradige at 33 times, followed by Filippo Pittscheider and Georg Psenner, both from Tires. The hosts also like to come up with innovative schemes: with their Grasleiten Run and eve-
as everybody is “ensnared” in the hut and enjoy the evening in company,” says the singer, Klaus Gummerer, who likes to oil his deep voice with whisky and, together with two other full-blooded musicians, raises the roof of the guest room at the Rifugio Bergamo with the very best of blues one night a year. «
Living and working in the mountains is exhausting, but gives you a great level of contentment.
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Uphill, downhill: there are no limits for the young runner Daniel Pattis in the mountains.
Taking it to the top, step by step For 19 year-old Daniel Pattis from Tires al Catinaccio, 2017 was a year that he’ll look back on for the rest of his life. He finished high school with top grades and claimed three mountain running titles into the bargain.
M Mountain running is an enormously popular sport, and more and more people are taking it up as a hobby. Running in the midst of mountain pastures and peaks holds a particular appeal and helps you to switch off and regain your focus anew. ALPE spoke to the junior Italian champion, European runner-up and World Championship runner-up about the events of the year, mountain running and the relationship between work and leisure.
Interview: Katja Sanin Photo: Helmuth Rier
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ALPE: When did you first realise that running is the sport for you, and how did you get into mountain running? Daniel Pattis: I took up crosscountry running in middle school
and was placed in the top five. I met my trainer, Hans Pircher, at a school race and it was with him that I started to train with the long-distance running association. I got into mountain running as I live in Tires and my training routes there don’t really offer many other options. My first ever mountain race that wasn’t in the youth category was towards the Malga Haniger. I won and that’s when I realised that mountain running is my sport. What’s challenging about mountain running and what does a race consist of? There are two types of races. An up-and-down race, which starts and finishes in the same place, and an all-up race. In the first type, you use a wide range of muscles, while the second involves mainly your calf muscles
and general physical fitness. The Italian, European and World Championships involve both styles. How often do you train? In spring and summer I train up to five times a week. Other people train more often, but this rhythm suits me. In winter, in addition to running training, I train my back and stomach muscles and do general fitness training without equipment. I also go cross-country skiing. You finished school with top grades in 2017. Which took more effort, your sporting victory or your school results? School and sport complement each other really well. In both school and training, the important thing is to be constant. Run-
»
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As I said, school and sport complement each other well. Sport really helps you learn how to perform under pressure. Ambition is also something that comes with sport. If you train a lot and have invested lots of time in something, you want to be at the forefront. You also learn to set yourself realistic goals and to put yourself to the test at races. Knowing what you want is useful at school too. Which made you happier, your success at school or your sporting success? I was almost happier with the sporting success. Winning silver at the World Championships in Premana in Lombardy was a particularly memorable experience. Mountain running is very popular in this region, which is why the World Championships were held there. The large audience was extremely enthusiastic and cheered me on loudly.
ning helps to free your mind and concentrate on school work after training.
Do you think that 2017 was the peak of your sporting career? At what other age do mountain runners reach their peak performance? Last year was certainly a high point and also a turning point in my life. It was my last year as a junior athlete and the year that I started to study in Austria. Until then, mountain running had been a hobby, and now I have to compete against professionals. On a physical level, athletes reach their peak from around their mid-twenties to thirty.
Does being a good student help in sport or vice versa? Are ambition, concentration and the drive to perform to the best of your ability skills that can be learned?
What are your plans for the future? Primarily, I’m focussing on my studies in Environmental and Process Engineering in Leoben and I’m hoping to find a way to
Vice world champion Daniel Pattis: running helps him to free his mind.
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combine my studies with mountain running. I probably won’t take up a professional sporting career, but will carry on with mountain running as a hobby to balance out my working life. What would you like to say to up-and-coming athletes and students? It’s important to set yourself a goal that you can work towards. In the beginning, your goals should be small and realistic as you’ll be more motivated to achieve them, and hard work comes through setting goals. I’ve already seen people who were too ambitious and then gave up their sport. So my advice would
Nice results in mountain running
be, in both sport and school, to always have a goal to work towards, but not to make it the be-all and end-all; to not put yourself under too much pressure and, if you want to enjoy doing it, to give yourself a balance and enough leisure time. «
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In search of nothingness “Forest bathing” is the trend of the moment: Walking through the wood does wonders for your sense of well-being, and is an activity that brings all your senses into play.
S “South Tyrol seeks travellers who find themselves. South Tyrol seeks you!” South Tyrol’s tourism marketing slogan reaches out to people who yearn to switch off, escape the hustle and bustle of life and recharge their batteries. To help them in their quest, the holiday area of South Tyrol offers all manner of activities from running, hiking and climbing in the boundless countryside, to high-energy sports on the mountains or in the valleys, to shopping, enjoying life and simply doing nothing. Text: Elisabeth Augustin Photo: Helmuth Rier
“To not be constantly doing and achieving. That’s exactly the feeling that so many people crave,” ex-
plains Monika Malfertheiner. However, the fasting and health trainer from Castelrotto is also aware that it doesn’t come easily to everybody. When she leads her guests through the woods, most of them don’t want to let go of their phones, or simply don’t know what to do with themselves. More than almost anywhere else, woods give people the chance to delve in with all senses pricked: seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling… And with every breath, the sense of well-being increases. The woods are an endless source of energy with free and easy access - every day, and every season, of the year. In a time when regaining our long-lost mindfulness is becoming ever more important to us, forest bathing is high on the list of ways to do it. Alongside the unique sensory experience, it also provides significant health benefits. “In Japan, forest bathing – Shinrinyoku – has developed into a form of therapy prescribed by doctors,” says Monika. “The healing effect of the wood is incredible; the terpenes released by the trees stimulate every part of our bodies that keeps us healthy.” When a “forest medicine” branch of research was established in Japan in 2012, the world be- »
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gan to sit up and take notice. Scientific studies have confirmed that spending time in woods has a significant effect on the human immune system. After just one day in the woods, the number of NK “natural killer” cells in the blood (part of the non-specific immune response system) increases by around 40%, and their activity by 50%, an effect that lasts for around seven days. Anti-cancer proteins help the NK cells in the fight against cancer, and they are also produced in greater abundance during time spent in forests. Professor Qing Li from the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo thus
nicate with the human immune system and appear to be responsible for the immune-boosting effect of forest air. The concentration of terpenes increases sharply in April/May, reaches its peak at the height of summer, and is higher in the inner forest and close to the earth than on the edges of the woods or the treetops.
proved that fewer people die of cancer in woody regions than in unwooded areas.
tense in wet weather, when the trees release even more essential oils,” says Monica. The air immediately after a downpour is also particularly favourable, and even for hay fever sufferers, forest bathing can only be recommended: “When you’re in the woods, the pollen is imperceptible, as the trees filter the air,” emphasises the trainer.
As we walk through the spruce forest by the Laghetto di Fiè lake, Monika Malfertheiner tells me that plants communicate with each other, exactly as people and animals do. And they also communicate with people and animals. Plants send out their chemical messengers primarily in the form of aromas; most of these aromas are emitted by secondary plant compounds known as terpenes, which also form part of the plant’s essential oil. Some of these terpenes also commu-
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One thing that nature-lovers have always known to be true is also proved scientifically: After a walk in the wood, you feel more relaxed, invigorated and refreshed. “Forest bathing is particularly in-
Nothing is more important than taking responsibility for one’s own health, says the young woman, who herself has made a conscious decision to live a mindful life in harmony with nature. She and her husband keep sheep on their
When Monika accompanies her “Südtirol/Alto Adige Balance” guests through the woods, they
“Balance” is Monika’s magic word. As a simple, efficient method of bringing one’s body into balance she mentions the Five Tibetans®, a series of five exercises to keep mind and body in good health which she herself practices every morning. “It balances and stimulates the whole body,” says the trainer. She also applies a few of these breathing techniques when she’s in the woods: Aware, mindful breathing is fundamental to effective forest bathing. “It’s important that we don’t breathe superficially. The immune system is also reinforced through deep breathing. It brings more
Photo: IDM/Helmuth Rier
farm in Castelrotto, and use their by-products. “It would do us all good to take a step back,” she says. “Do we even allow ourselves the luxury of breathing correctly? Or do we ask ourselves where the sun rises?” She stops by a birch tree and presses her ear to the trunk. “That’s how you can hear the inside of the tree pumping water upwards.” And what do we know of the effects of plants and herbs?
“South Tyrol Balance”
look for special healing plants. “Try to think of nothing,” she recommends. “Search out a tree in absolute inner peace, and you’ll be amazed by what or whom you recognise in it, and what it has to say to you. You can even hug it and tell it your troubles.” Admittedly it might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it‘s certainly worth a try. Many forest-bathers are a little hesitant when Monika invites them to take off their shoes and feel the forest floor under their bare feet. “People often feel that it’s an intrusion on their privacy,” the health trainer says regretfully. “Although walking barefoot is the most natural thing in the world.”
serenity to the body and allows a connection to form between the heart and the head. This balance makes us happier.” Exploring the woods with Monika is fun: When you open your eyes, nose and ears with a sense of mindfulness, you experience an incredible symphony of colours, smells and sound. At the same time, forest bathing is a serene immersion in nothingness. “I went into the woods for myself, looking for nothingness. That was my aim.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe couldn’t have said it better. «
is dedicated to all those who want to devote time to their health and well-being in the springtime. A carefully chosen selection of professionally guided activities combined with the uplifting atmosphere of the countryside put you in a wonderful mood, while practical tips inspire you to achieve more inner balance in all areas of life. In the Alpe di Siusi holiday area a variety of events and workshops on healthy activities, balance and healthy nutrition are held in May and June. Together with supervised running training and the right equipment, you’ll have all you need to get the hiking and running season off to a good start. For more information go to www.seiseralm.it/ balance.
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The Thresholds of Tranquillity A small, sunlit area of woodland beside the Laghetto di Fiè lake, criss-crossed by myriad little paths. The forest floor is sweetly perfumed, the heather is in blossom, the birds are chirruping and through the trees, we can just make out the form of the Sciliar massif. Since last summer, there has been more to discover here than “just” the silence of this spot, slightly off the beaten track but by no means isolated: whoever makes their way into the sunny grove will stumble upon a surprising assemblage of artwork.
T The picturesque wood is located between the two restaurants at the Laghetto di Fiè lake and is all too easy to miss, what with the spectacular view of the sheer rock face and the happy anticipation of the popular small bathing lake ahead. Most hikers set out with a clear plan, whether it’s to walk around the pond, take a trip to the Tuff Alm mountain hut or even to climb the Sciliar itself. Although this particular place is so close to such a bustling, lively attraction, it seems oddly untouched. Barely visible from the loop-trail, three works of art have been installed in the wood: Nine larch wood planks with a charred base, a large round central wooden platform, split down the middle, and a perfect metal circle from which a clay
dome bulges upwards. This countryside composition was created by a seven-person interdisciplinary art group. Three of them met up here on this sunny, windy afternoon in March: the ideator and visual artist Elisabeth Oberrauch, who is based in Merano and S. Costantino; sculptor Paul Feichter from Valle Aurina and experimental sound artist Peter Kompripiotr Holzknecht who lives in Bolzano. They came here to give us some background information on this restful spot, but they’re also clearly curious to see the condition of their work, which they created in August 2017 with considerable physical effort. The exhausting week of work last summer followed a long planning period; the notion of cre- »
Text: Sabine Funk Photo: Helmuth Rier
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The split platform was built with fir wood and features a slight suspension.
ating a form of art trail around the Laghetto di Fiè lake dated back years. Initially, the trail was intended to run between the Huber and Fiè lakes, a plan which was thwarted for a number of reasons, including the ownership of the forestland. The project group was formed during the interdisciplinary working weeks that Elisabeth Oberrauch has been hosting for more than ten years at a picturesque summer residence in the old family villa in S. Costantino. After she and Paul Feichter selected the other members and invited them to share in the project, the group began to bring their ideas to fruition. And at long last, the 500th anniversary of the Laghetto di Fiè lake provided them with the opportunity to give form to the project which had been drafted back in 2015.
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A work of art by several artists. The philosophy behind the project is about stopping for a pause in the countryside and the levels of sensory perception that come to the fore when experiencing nature; thus the visual, material and acoustic dimensions of a location and how it can be represented in art. Other aspects which have found their way into the project involve critical questions, such as a future-oriented approach to managing the precious commodity of this natural space through ongoing usage and development. For Elisabeth Oberrauch, the key to the challenging task lays in the interdisciplinary collaboration that she has been involved in for many years: “I didn’t want to just amass a group of artists, but to bring together a variety of people who work in
The larch planks were charred over a fire in order to protect them from decay.
the field of culture, nature and landscape. It was important to me that everyone learns from each other through this exchange.” “Naturally, the process was anything but easy,” adds Peter Holzknecht. “Everyone has a highly personal perspective that is determined by their background.” The fact that this is a shared group project is of great importance to all of them. Even in the early planning stage, their aim was to create a chronological art trail in which everyone would develop their own work and arrange it in the form of a unified path. The three objects, in fact, should not be perceived as independent stations. “For us, this is now a place of art where everything interacts - not the classic ‘fitness trail’ path where
aesthetically pleasing objects are simply grouped together,” emphasizes Peter Holzknecht. As Paul Feichter says, “The place is the experience in itself, a place where you can perceive or discover something for yourself. In order to do so, you have to allow yourself to be affected by what you find here.” These objects in the forest should not oblige the observer to adopt a manner of devotional contemplation.
Three elements. Despite the unity, the triangle in the forest consists of three distinct elements: the split fir wood platform, the larch planks and the curved round dome - the “clay lens” - diagonally behind it. “The orientation of the larch planks leads them into a natural dialogue with the Sciliar. »
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Peter Holzknecht, Elisabeth Oberrauch and Paul Feichter from the artists group
The clay lens adds a mystical, swampy dimension, as we worked so specifically with the earth itself and the forest floor. The platform, in turn, communicates with the Laghetto di Fiè lake. “On one side you have a fabulous view of the lake, but what you don’t notice at first is that the lower half of the platform features a slight suspension while the upper half is immobile,” explains Elisabeth Oberrauch. Peter Holzknecht adds: “The name was not chosen by chance: Approaching Scenes of Calmness.” To come here, you have to leave the beaten path, whether consciously or unconsciously. The platform mirrors the inner conflict that you inevitably experience when in summer you have the endless commotion on the pier to one side and, to the other, the peace of the forest. The platform was built on-site with fir wood, the lens was hand-filled with clay, the larch planks charred over a fire to protect them from decay like the typical picket fences around a cottage garden. The memory of the hard graft is cause for great amusement all round: “That was another limit we all had to push. Everyone made their contribution according to their own abilities and possibilities,” recalls Paul Feichter while his project partner Peter Holzknecht confesses with a hint of self-effacing irony: “I’ve been wearing support stockings ever since.” The oasis of tranquillity is accessible from the Vecchio Ristorante on the Laghetto di Fiè lake and the Hotel Waldsee, and from the hiking trail through the S. Antonio forest. A discreet black metal plaque is set a little into the forest; the group made a conscious decision not to erect a conspicuous sign, which would not have been in keeping with concept of “Approaching Scenes of Calmness,” they say. You will find this place only if you want to, or if you happen upon it by chance. «
Artists: The circular metal frame of the lens was filled with clay from the forest soil.
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Paul Feichter, Peter Komripiotr Holzknecht, Dirk Manzke, Elisabeth Oberrauch, Eva Schgaguler, Alois Steger and Brigitte Watzeck
HEALTH-CONSCIOUS SPA TREATMENT IN HARMONY WITH NATURE Our rural ancestors were acutely aware of just how potent mountain hay from the Dolomites can be. Rich in herbs and flowers, it gives off an incomparable aroma, recognizable only as a freshly mown meadow in full bloom. In combination with our knowledge the health benefits of natural mountain hay, based on three pillars: detox, relax and construct, come to fruition. The Original Völser Heubad® combines tradition and progress. Experience perspiring while immersed in hay as a whole body treatment, and discover the skin care line Trehs® Orignal Bergheu, with its one-of-akind mountain hay extract from the alkaline grasslands of Seiser Alm. Book your own hay bath by calling +39 0471 725020. Our bath department is open Mondays to Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to noon and from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Closed on Sundays. Hay baths, massages and cosmetics are also available to those not staying at the hotel.
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The „ Farmers Buffet of Castelrotto“ around Maria Anna Plunger, Michl Jaider and Andreas Profanter pampers the guests with dumplings in all variations.
A Peep in the Dumpling Pot Good food in good company is one of life’s greatest joys. At the summer Dumpling Festival in Castelrotto village square, South Tyrol’s favourite meal is cooked up for the enjoyment of guests and locals, and served fresh from the pot in countless sweet and savoury variants.
I Text: Barbara Pichler Photo: Helmuth Rier
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In the early afternoon, preparations for the Dumpling Festival are already underway in Castelrotto village square. Tents are raised, a kitchen fitted out, and tables and benches arranged. Slowly and steadily, the first cooks of the day get the open-air kitchen organised, and the tables are laden with the ingredients for six varieties of dumplings: Hearty, filling bacon, spinach, cheese and liver dumplings are all on the menu and on one night even the traditional
buckwheat Plentenen Knödel dumplings make an appearance.
Open-air restaurant. Sacks of dumpling bread and flour are at the ready, eggs and milk stirred together in a bowl, herbs chopped and bacon diced. Apricots and strawberries are prepared for the sweet dumplings; it takes a skilled “dumpling hand” to make the delicate ricotta dough. The enor- »
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South Tyrol’s favourite meal – the dumpling - contains finest ingredients and is made with lots of love.
mous pots are filled with water and boiling merrily on the large gas stoves. Everything has to be ready for when the first hungry guests arrive. In the early evening the kitchen is a hive of activity, and already the interested onlookers are watching farming women with attentive curiosity. The mood is laid-back in the kitchen as everybody is so used to “rolling the dumplings” on a daily basis, and the carefree atmosphere carries through to the large restaurant under the open skies, where the guests are so clearly in their element.
The Dumpling Festival. In Castelrotto village square, an evening is dedicated to South Tyrol’s most beloved recipe three times in summer. The Castelrotto Tourist Association organises the event together with the “Farmers Buffet of Castelrotto” catering company, and Maria Anna Plunger, Michl Jaider and Andreas Profanter play a central role in the proceedings. “The most popular, traditional recipe of South Tyrol is the focal point of these evenings. Dumplings bring together so many products of farming provenance,” explains Maria Anna Plunger. Hundreds of dumplings are rolled, 40 kilos of meat transformed into goulash and countless bowls filled with salad. Dumplings are a main course in their own right, but bacon or “Lenten” dumplings also pair very well with a fiery goulash. Locals and guests tuck into the staple food with gusto, and around the tables the best dumplings are debated, recipes are deliberated and tips exchanged. The Dumpling Festival is an upbeat, sociable get-together with good food and music.
Dumplings: a cult dish. From staple food of the poor during hard times, dumplings have gone on to become the undisputed favourite meal for South Tyroleans, and each family has their own recipes. For centuries, dumpling bread, eggs and milk, flour, salt and pepper, fresh chives or parsley have been the basic ingredients for the South Tyrolean dumpling. In affluent times, bacon was added, while other variants include mushroom, cheese and herbal dumplings to name a few. The imagination knows no bounds. Sweet dumplings with strawberries, apricots or plums and ricotta dumplings, plain or stuffed, are also extremely popular. This vast variety is due to the origins of the dumpling: On the farms, whatever was available at any given time was cooked and served. The original recipe is the finest example of how to use leftovers in the kitchen: stale, diced bread, eggs and milk are the fundamental ingredients. Everything else is down to taste and inspiration. When it comes to making dumplings, the knack is no less important than the ingredients and the right touch. The consistency of the dough is a decisive factor in whether they are soft and fluffy or crumble apart in the water. The secret art of “rolling the dumpling” is all in a feel for the dough and a little practice. One last thing to remember: When you’re eating dumplings, you should always cut them with a fork. Anybody who does otherwise risks offending both cook and host. «
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Strawberry dumplings Ingredients
Method (approx. 18 dumplings)
250 g. ricotta 120 g. flour 60 g. butter 1 heaped tablespoon fine semolina 1 egg Breadcrumbs and sugar to coat
Beat the butter and egg until fluffy. Add ricotta, flour and semolina and mix well. With well-floured hands, roll the mixture into small dumpling balls with a strawberry in the centre. Place in lightly boiling water and cook for five minutes. Melt a little extra butter in a frying pan, add the sugar and breadcrumbs and brown gently, stirring constantly. Drain the dumplings well and coat carefully with the breadcrumb mixture. Recipe from Maria Anna Plunger from the “Farmers Buffet of Castelrotto�
Tip from Maria Anna Plunger: For a fluffier dough, you can substitute half the ricotta (125 g.) for the same quantity of boiled, mashed potatoes.
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Fresh products from our local farmers
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Food Butcher Bakery Confectionery Hardware Gardening Agriculture articles
The new supermarket Coop in the heart of Castelrotto offers you a wide range of fi rst quality products. In the specialities‘ corner you will fi nd unique culinary delights from local farmers, from biological origin and from fair trade. At the selling desk there is the famous butcher Heinz of the renowned Butcher Shop Silbernagl offering you typical Speck from Castelrotto and Helga, the soul of the Bakery and Confectionery Shop Burgauner, who will contribute with the “Schüttelbrot”. Why don‘t you come around? We are looking forward to your visit!
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Famiglia Cooperativa di Castelrotto Via Panider 24, Tel. 0471 706 330, Fax: 0471 710 501 info@konsummarkt.com, www.konsummarkt.com
Photo: SAM/Armin Indio Mayr
Photo: IDM/Helmuth Rier
Photo: OvW-Ritt/Armin Indio Mayr
Highlights Summer 2018
> 30 April – 27 June 2018
> 25 - 27 May 2018
> 1 July 2018
> 4 – 23 July 2018
Alto Adige Balance
Oswald von Wolkenstein Riding Tournament
Alpe di Siusi Half Marathon
Semper Music International Festival
3 days, 4 locations and 36 teams: In tribute to knight and minstrel Oswald von Wolkenstein, the three villages of Castelrotto, Siusi and Fiè allo Sciliar organise a historical riding tournament at its very finest. From 25 to 27 May 2018, visitors to the Oswald von Wolkenstein Riding Tournament can leap back in time to the 14th century and experience life in the Middle Ages, admire the masterly horsemanship and feel the hospitality in South Tyrol. No other riding tournament has the good fortune to be able to offer this kind of culture, tradition, history, sport and folklore all rolled into one single event. This year, the opening ceremony and festive parade take place in the village Fiè allo Sciliar. www.ovwritt.com
21 kilometres, 601 metres of elevation gain and 700 participants: These are the characteristic numbers of the Alpe di Siusi Half Marathon on 1 July 2018. Surrounded by the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage, the Alpe di Siusi Half Marathon is a unique experience and sporting challenge for both professional and amateur athletes. The starter’s gun for the running event with start and finish in Compatsch is fired at 10.00 am. running.seiseralm.it
The Semper Music International Festival provides a unique opportunity to experience concerts by well-known and famous musicians in the Alpe di Siusi holiday area. On the festival program, besides the international competitions, master classes and workshops, there are about 35 afternoon and evening concerts with renowned music professors and young artists from North and South America, Asia and Europe participating. All concerts, master classes and workshops are open free of charge for guests and locals. Admission fees apply only for the star concerts. www.schlernmusicfestival.eu
As the countryside awakens in spring, the urge to get out into the open air gets ever stronger and draws us out into the great outdoors and the spring air. “Active and healthy in spring” is the order of the day in South Tyrol. A variety of training sessions and workshops on the theme of health, balance, nutritious diet, optimal training techniques and equipment will ensure you have all the basics you need to get the fresh air and hiking and running season off to a good start. www.seiseralm.it/balance > May – July 2018
Hikes for Flower Lovers Approximately 790 flowering plants and ferns of highly varied appearance and origin can be seen around Sciliar mountain over the course of the year. Typical Alpine flowers but also botanical rarities flourish on the alp mats, in meadows and wheelbarrows. The nature reserve authorities organize about 20 guided hikes every year in cooperation with the tourism associations of the nature reserve communities with experienced nature reserve hiking guide Riccardo Insam.
46 ALPE | Summer
> 4 June 2018
Hiking and mountain talks with Reinhold Messner Discovering the Dolomites, the “most beautiful mountains in the world” with Reinhold Messner: on this group tour, the extreme mountaineer tells of his tours and of his passion that has its origins in the Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The walk leads to the Malga Plafötsch mountain hut and a “round table” lunch.
> 30 June – 02 September 2018
Art and photography in focus With the official inauguration of the new visitor centre in the Siusi Nature Reserve now on the cards for 2019, a number of exhibitions will be held once again this summer. The variety-packed programme begins with the “500 Years of the Schwarzer Adler” exhibition followed by the works of “Spare-time artists under Sciliar” and ending with a nature and landscape photography exhibition. Information on opening times is available at the tourist offices.
Photo: Helmuth Rier
Photo: IDM/Helmuth Rier
Photo: SMIF/Fotolia
> 7 July 2018
> Summer 2018
> 9 July – 6 September 2018
> 1 - 31 October 2018
Catinaccio-Sciliar Sky Marathon
Open-air Gourmet Extravaganza
Summer Classics di Siusi allo Sciliar
The Kuchlkastl - Culinary Festival in Fiè allo Sciliar
Right in the very heart of the unique UNESCO World Heritage Dolomites, an Alpine Mountain Marathon with a length of 45 km and around 3,000 m of elevation difference will be setting off from Tires al Catinaccio: the Catinaccio-Sciliar Sky Marathon. The challenging mountain race will begin in Tires, lead round the Catinaccio Massif, over the Sciliar, past the Monte Cavone Hut and back to Tires. The highest point of the Sky Marathon is the Principe Pass at 2,630 m. www.skymarathontiers.it
With three unusual open-air gourmet events on the cards, the Alpe di Siusi summer promises to be something of a culinary experience.
For lovers of classical music, Siusi offers an extraordinary series of concerts. Artists will perform the works of great composers. The “Summer Classics“ of Siusi represent a high level of musical talent and have long since become an integral component of our summer cultural program. Both locals and visitors will be enchanted.
The Kuchlkastl Culinary Festival has been the culinary highlight of autumn in the Alpe di Siusi holiday area for over 40 years now. Gourmets and lovers of traditional cooking are in for a treat in October, when the restaurants in Fiè allo Sciliar open their doors for the “Gastronomic October” festival. The chefs will be serving up traditional recipes with a modern flair. The theme: Old recipes reinterpreted and served with love. www.voelserkuchlkastl.com
First up is the Berglertafel (Mountaineers’ Banquet) in Tires al Catinaccio on 19 July – legendary not only for its culinary finesse but also for its spectacular views over the Catinaccio mountain. On 25 July, Castelrotto will be welcoming its guests to a culinary event steeped in history: the Krausen Banquet, where the Monte Calvario hill will be providing the historical backdrop for the evening. On 2 September he gourmet events draw to a close at the Tabbla Toò on the Alpe di Siusi, where an exceptional meal cooked in wood-fired ovens will be served accompanied by a 360° view of the Alpe di Siusi.
Dates: 9, 16 and 23 July 2018, 20 and 27 August 2018, 3 September 2018
> 12 - 14 October 2018
Kastelruther Spatzen Music Festival Celebrating, spending pleasant evenings together, experiencing the “Kastelruther Spatzen” live: The Spatzen-Festival in Castelrotto is a must for every fan. Surrounded by the unique scenery of the Dolomites the seven “Spatzen” enchant all friends of traditional music.
Summer | ALPE 47
Photo: Moonlight/Armin Indio Mayr
Photo: Helmuth Rier
Photo: Helmuth Rier
Preview Winter 2018/19
> 6 December 2018 – 7 April 2019
> December 2018
> 19 January 2019
> 20 January 2019
80 years of the Alpe di Siusi ski resort
Christmas in the mountains in Castelrotto
Winter Berglertafel Mountaineers’ Banquet
Traditional country wedding of Castelrotto
With the advent of Alpine mountaineering at the beginning of the 20th century, the Alpe di Siusi grew to become a popular sport and leisure area, a factor which also influenced the development of skiing in the region. In the winter of 1938/39 the first lift - the “Slittovia Joch-Panorama” - was put into service, laying the foundations for what was to become the Alpe di Siusi ski resort. This coming winter season the 80th jubilee will be celebrated in style with an array of special events themed around the topic of “80 years of the Alpe di Siusi ski resort” featuring, amongst others, a number of “Nostalgia Days”.
When the fragrant scent of gingerbread, cinnamon and mulled wine waft through the air, you know it’s Advent time at the foot of the Sciliar. The Castelrotto Christmas market welcomes everybody to come and enjoy a sociable get-together over a glass of mulled wine and a touch of Christmas spirit. The inhabitants of Castelrotto will unveil the secrets of their Christmas traditions and allow others to participate in them. Beside the little Christmas market, local farmers’ wives will offer their cookies, Christmas logs, pastries, and other authentic goodies for sale. Music groups will present songs and tunes in keeping with the „Feast of Love“.
In 2019, the legendary summer’s Berglertafel Mountaineers’ Banquet in Tires al Catinaccio will also be featuring on the winter events’ program. The day commences with a snowshoe test session for beginners and experts during a snowshoe walk through the untouched, rustic winter countryside: Participants will have the opportunity to explore the Dolomites while determining which snowshoes best suit their needs before stopping off for the “Flying Buffet” to exchange opinions over a bowl of warming soup or a mulled wine. Like its summer counterpart, the Berglertafel Flying Buffet will be serving classic dishes with a creative twist in a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach, as participants will discover when the day draws to a close with a view over the famed Alpenglow of Catinaccio at sunset.
The Country Wedding in Castelrotto has already become a tradition. It’s the authentic reproduction of a historical farmer’s wedding like those celebrated since time immemorial at the foot of the Alpe di Siusi. The throngs of participants wear their traditional garments with great pride – one of the reasons why the event has developed into one of South Tyrol’s most spectacular pageants.
48 ALPE | Summer
> 20 January 2019
Winter Golf Tournament Why does a green have to be… well, green? At the winter golf tournament, the greens give way to the white snows of the Alpe di Siusi, and golfers are treated to spectacular views as they ski or snowboard their way from one hole to the next. The 9 holes range from 61 to 150 m in length and are played with brightly-coloured golf balls, so much easier to spot against the snowy fairways. The tour starts in Compatsch, leads on to the Bullaccia, to the Laurin and Panorama lift and back towards the set-off point. Excellent catering and musical entertainment are provided along the golf course.
Photo: SAM/Helmuth Rier
Photo: SAM/Helmuth Rier
Photo: SAM/F-Tech
> 23 January 2019
> Winter 2019
> March 2019
> 17 – 24 March 2019
South Tyrol Moonlight Classic Alpe di Siusi
FIS World Cup Slopestyle Snowboard & Freeski
Dolovino on Snow
Swing on Snow Winter Music Festival
A sporting event illuminated by the glow of flickering torchlight, the chance to put your skills to the test at international level, and the spectacular winter backdrop of the Alpe di Siusi: In 2019, the Moonlight Classic will once again be offering numerous athletes and cross-country fans the chance to spend a sensational evening on the Alpe di Siusi by night. Participants can opt to take part in either the 30 km or the 15 km variant of the loop route. Both variants begin and end in Compatsch and are raced exclusively in classic diagonal style. The starting pistol for this cross-country spectacle will be fired at 8pm. At the start/finish area, spectators will already have gathered en-masse to enjoy the atmospheric display when the alphorn players and whip crackers take to the floor to set the scene for the evening. www.moonlightclassic.info
For the third year in a row, the world’s best freestylers will be taking to their boards and skis in a gravity-defying display of choreography. The two Slopestyle World Cups will be taking place at the Alpe di Siusi Snow Park. Slopestyle, first introduced at Sochi 2014, is the most recent extreme-discipline on the Olympic scene, and sees athletes competing on a course which features a variety of jumps and obstacles. Six judges rate tricks on creativity, difficulty and execution or style, while jumps are evaluated on height, range and landing.
Dolovino on Snow invites you to celebrate the theme of “Top Alto Adige wines at the foot of the Dolomites” on a wine-tour across the Alpe di Siusi. South Tyrol is not just a paradise for skiers and hikers, but also an internationally renowned wine-growing area. Connoisseurs can sample outstanding wines from the local area in numerous bars and restaurants around the area, while the Alpine huts on the Alpe di Siusi will be serving culinary delights to round off the event to mouth-watering perfection.
Jazz in the mountain huts, soul on the slopes and traditional tunes in the restaurants in the evenings: Musicians from all over the Alpine region will be performing from morning to night in the Alpe di Siusi holiday area for the Swing on Snow festival. Bands and singers will be setting the tone on the slopes and getting old and young, winter sports visitors and music lovers alike, into the party mood. The modern interpretation of traditional folk music with jazz, soul and pop reflect the musical culture of the Alps; listeners can swerve in time to the beats and rhythms, and weave their way downhill to the sounds of the tuba, bass, dulcimer and accordion. Concerts will be played on the slopes of the Alpe di Siusi in the mornings, afternoons in the huts and evenings in the villages of Castelrotto, Siusi, Fiè allo Sciliar and Tires al Catinaccio. www.swingonsnow.com
Summer | ALPE 49
Photo: Helmuth Rier
Around & about
One of the most beautiful villages in Italy. Since 2018, Castelrotto is officially one of the “Borghi più belli d’Italia”- the “most beautiful villages in Italy.” The home of the Kastelruther Spatzen owes its charm to the historic village centre with its picturesque alleys, artistically painted houses, stately villas and beautifully-kept farms. The Monte Calvario hill boasts an outstanding view at the Sciliar and over the whole village with its distinctive church tower.
All good things come in threes.
“The first skiing holiday without skis.”
Photo: Helmuth Rier
In March, Felix Neureuther was a guest at the Tirler Dolomites Living Hotel together with his wife Miriam Gössner and their daughter Matilda. It was the first trip to the Alpe di Siusi for Germany’s alpine ski star, and he particularly appreciated the breathtaking landscape and idyllic peace. Having ruptured his cruciate ligament in November he was unable to compete in the World Cup races and Olympic Games, and this was his first winter holiday without skis.
COLOFONE. ALPE: registrato pr. il trib. BZ, decreto n. 9/2002 R.St. Editore: Alpe di Siusi Marketing, 39050 Fiè allo Sciliar, Via del Paese, 15, Tel. 0471 709 600, Fax 0471 704 199, info@alpedisiusi.info, www.alpedisiusi.info. Direttore responsabile: Elisabeth Augustin. Redazione: Elisabeth Augustin, Rosa Maria Erlacher, Sabine Funk, Barbara Pichler Rier, Katja Sanin, Denise Frötscher; Traduzioni: Studio Bonetti & Peroni. Pubblicità: Sabine Demetz, Christoph Trocker. Impaginazione: Komma Graphik. Stampa: Litopa, Verona.
50 ALPE | Summer
Over the past two skiing seasons Peter Fill, ski champion from Castelrotto, has claimed the crystal globe in the Downhill World Cup. This year he also celebrated the overall Alpine Combined victory and with it, his third crystal globe. Slopestyler Silvia Bertagna, who has been training at the Alpe di Siusi Snowpark for years, has also made quite an impression with her skills: She was the winner of the crystal globe at the Big Air World Cup.
Mesmerising Natural Paradise
“Witches’ Springs” The barefoot adventure trail for the whole family …
…. Finishing at the cosy Tirler cabin
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