Presentation

by Mario Corradini

The pleasure of going to the mountains and the love for one’s land hardly remain exclusively personal. Many share these emotions with others, with hiking and climbing partners. A few of them wish to share their experiences and their knowledge, even through the pages of a book. Doing so allows many other people to discover new itineraries and to climb slopes, rock faces and peaks safely. The region of Trentino-South Tyrol is an important part of the alpine arc. It is mainly a mountainous territory with high, snow covered peaks which make up a sector of the Alps which represents a great structural relief. Various Dolomite groups lie here, and in this volume dedicated to the western part of the region, there are various itineraries in the Brenta Dolomites, the group further west of the Dolomites. The Dolomites have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. An important recognition, a precious one, which highlights the beauty of these mountains which never cease to amaze, so much so that hikers and climbers come to visit them from all over the world. The Prealps consist of the “minor” part of the reliefs but not for this reason are less interesting. They lie to the south of their “older sisters” offering countless opportunities. In fact on these mountains there is not only hiking but there are also many rock faces for climbing. There are various environmental beauties and many historical remains, including the ones from the war front of 1915/18. Writing a guide book is not easy, it is not trivial. In proposing itineraries to reach a peak in a description you have to include– even concisely– all the basic and necessary information. The reader must be able to understand areas, times, difficulties, vertical height gains and characteristics of the terrain they are about to tackle. Leafing through these pages I notice that this book has exactly these characteristics. It could not be otherwise since this is not the first time that Diego writes a guide book. He has already written a number of climbing volumes and his profession as a Mountain Guide is further guarantee of the technical data described in his books. Further more this volume is on the eastern part of Trentino-South Tyrol which sees Fabrizio as a co-author, alpinist and technical member of the mountain rescue team.

Reading this index I see that this publication offers numerous and different itineraries. A book, even if written with the objective of introducing new areas, sometimes is useful in reviving distant memories which have been lost in the most remote corners of one’s memory. I remember many days spent on these mountains. And reading over my notes on this occasion I look for the old slides forgotten in my old archive. Writing this presentation has given me the opportunity to go back in time. I remember a number of emotions, lots of different situations, happy moments and even moments of concern. The years pass by, experiences accumulate, memories are part of a life lived fully. A book offers the opportunity of new discoveries and will always be a precious help to remind us what joy we have felt in the mountains.