The magic of the Dolomites
25 January 2022
It’s been a year poor of snow, the high pressure is still stripping the mountains; day by day the white patches on the slopes above my house get smaller and smaller until they disappear and, although the night is very cold, the days are warm and sunny.
Two years ago, at this time I was climbing the frozen channels of the Antarctic Peninsula and years before I was in Patagonia or other remote places, now I am climbing the path that leads to the Palia bivouac alone. It is not too early, but the air is still freezing, my footsteps break the crispy dry leaves on the ground: here the path is very steep, but soon leads to the top. The path enters small channels facing east which now, for a few moments, enjoy that little and timid sun, filtered, moreover, by a layer of dense bare trees.
I am still in winter, which in this case is a place, because up there and above, I can already see spring. I stop for a moment, I look against the light at the valley and its morning mists, how many years have passed. It was 1985 when with Andrea we opened the via Capitan Uncino on the Valscura wall, just behind it; it was May and we were young. We looked at the valley from above: the lights, the houses, the smell of burnt wood that came from far up here, with the momentary desire not to be there, in the cold, crossed by streams of water that filtered through the wall. Now, on the other hand, I'm fine here, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
I take off my jacket, drink some water, look up and leave. There are tracks in the snow, someone has already passed. A little further up I arrive at a crossroads that divides my path from the one that goes to the Intrigos fork; the most obvious trace goes on that side; I continue on the other. I arrive at the bivouac, up here the world changes, here there is very little snow and it is starting to get hot. Before you could hear the noises of the valley, now here the silence is almost annoying. These are mountains that are not very popular even in summer, let alone in winter. I set off again, I prefer to use crampons which guarantee me a little more safety; although easy, falling here would be deathful. Few more meters and I reach the summit. From up here, the panorama is simply amazing. I sit down, get dressed, enjoy the warmth of the winter sun on my face, close my eyes and imagine… I could be anywhere.
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