Rod Smallwood: Nether Moor Images
The Dolomites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009, are dramatic dolomitic limestone peaks in north-east Italy (more about dolomitic limestone after the images). The Tre Cime di Lavaredo (the Drei Zinnen in German) are Dolomite peaks par excellence, and the circuit of the peaks is both very popular and one of our favourite alpine walks. We revisited the Dolomites in September this year and repeated the walk.
The World Heritage site is made up of nine separate mountain groups, and the Tre Cime are in the Dolomiti settentrionali (Northern Dolomites). The area was declared a Nature Park in 1981. The northern part of the Nature Park includes the Drei Zinnen ski area, but the southern part, surrounding the Tre Cime, has no ski infrastructure at all. That does not mean it is quiet – there is a controversial toll road from Lago di Misurina to an enormous car park near the Rifugio di Auronzo, so this walk is by far the busiest we have done in the Dolomites.
Until 1919, this northern corner of Italy was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and it was a battleground during the First World War. The area is riddled with military remains – barbed wire, tunnels, many of the tracks that we now walk along – and 750,000 men died in the futile fighting. The Tre Cime lie on the border between South Tyrol and Belluno, which is the linguistic boundary between German-speaking and Italian-speaking majorities. Very confusing – South Tyrol is Italian, North Tyrol is Austrian. On festive occasions, lederhosen, dirndls and oompah bands give the area a very different feel from elsewhere in Italy. When walking, you are greeted equally with ‘bon giorno’ and ‘grüß Gott’.
Looking back to Monte Cristallo and the Rifugio di Auronzo. The car park is beyond the refuge, and we are starting an anti-clockwise circuit of the Tre Cime.
Looking back towards the Rifugio Lavaredo and south face of the Tre Cime from the Forcella Lavaredo.
Rifugio Locatelli from the Forcella Lavaredo. Torre dei Scarperi on the left, Sasso di Sesto on the right above the refuge. We have now crossed to the north side of the Tre Cime, and our next target is lunch in the refuge. The main track, passable by 4WD, is just below the sunlit scree. The path at the top of the scree is more interesting and exposed, but was vetoed on this walk.
Monte Paterno and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo from the Sasso di Sesto (2539m) above the refuge. This was taken fifteen years ago. The Sasso di Sesto is a superb viewpoint, not very far from the refuge, but is off the main track so is little visited. The Forcella Lavaredo is between Monte Paterno and the Tre Cime, and the main track is clearly visible running across the screes. The continuation track can be seen climbing out of the valley at the bottom right.
Torre dei Scarperi from the Col de Mezzo. At the Col de Mezzo we cross back to the south side of the Tre Cime with a couple of kilometers to walk back to the car park.
More about the rock
Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure (the son of Horace-Bénédict de Saussure of Mont Blanc fame) named the rock after Déodat de Dolomieu, who published a description of the mineral in 1791.
Dolomite is limestone (CaCO3) in which some of the calcium is replaced by magnesium to give calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg(CO3)2. The method of formation of dolomite is not known. Interestingly, the conversion of limestone to dolomite is energetically favourable, and there is sufficient magnesium dissolved in sea water to drive the conversion, but the rate of diffusion of magnesium ions into CaCO3 particles is too slow for this to be a significant conversion process.
In England, dolomitic limestone is known as magnesian limestone. It forms a large aquifer beneath Newcastle and Durham, and outcrops in a narrow strip running from Nottingham to Hartlepool. It is the building stone of many fine churches – York, Ripon, Beverley, Selby, Southwell – and was said by Wren to be the finest building stone after Portland Stone. There are two tiny outcrops in the Peak District at Rainster Rocks and Harboro Rocks near Brassington. The British Geological Survey description of these outcrops is ‘Bee Low Limestone Formation – Dolomitic’.
Further reading
The best book about Alpine geology, flora and fauna is Jim Langley & Paul Gannon, The Alps: A Natural Companion, published by the Oxford Alpine Club.
There is a 10-stage geotrail in the Dolomites, with a guidebook and two maps: Dolomites UNESCO Geotrail by Christjan Ladurner and Corrado Morelli, published by Tappeiner. I could not find any way to buy it online, but did find an English-language copy in the Information Centre in Corvara.
I picked up a very fine booklet, published to commemorate the designation of the World Heritage Site, in a hotel in Corvara – but it was in German, and I could not find an English version. However, it is online as an issu e-book.
Picture books are ten-a-penny, but good black & white photographs are rare. I have two books which are of historic interest, showing the Dolomites in the 1950s before mass tourism. It is entertaining to read Poucher on driving along the unpaved Grande Strada delle Dolomiti in his Jaguar, and comparing it with today. Both were excellent mountaineers, but the style is very dated:
C Douglas Milner, The Dolomites, Robert Hale Limited 1951
W A Poucher, The Magic of the Dolomites, Country Life Limited 1951.
The one good modern book of outstanding black & white images that I have found is Monocrome: Walking through the Ampezzo Dolomites by Manuel Cicchetti. Published by the Music Company srl, 40137 Bologna in 2018. I had great difficulty getting hold of a copy of this – I think I found it eventually on an Italian bookseller’s web site, and by the time it arrived I had forgotten I had bought it.
Finally, if you are interested in building materials in England, an old but classic book:
Alec Clifton-Taylor, The Pattern of English Building. Faber and Faber Ltd, 1972.
Image Gallery
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