THE DOLOMITES the most beautiful mountains in the

Toward the end of the 19th century, the Dolomites saw numerous pioneering activities; the mountains were an excellent area for experimentation of various kinds. Bold British noblemen were the first to conquer the sharp peaks, the jagged summits and the sheer cliffs of the Dolomites. They were followed by Hapsburg climbers who wrote the most important chapters in the history of Dolomite mountain climbing.
Great climbers like the Viennese Paul Grohmann (1838–1908), the first to climb to the top of Tofana de Rozes and Mount Cristallo near Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Sassolungo in Val Gardena and the Three Peaks of Lavaredo in the Sesto Dolomites, loved these mountains and wrote about them in numerous publications. The Austrian Emil Zsigmondy (1861–1885) was also a pioneer in the history of Dolomite mountain climbing. He described them as a “delicious gem in the Alps”. The Lake Garda mountain climber, actor, and movie director Luis Trenker (1892-1990), who was born in Ortisei at the foot of the inimitable Sassolungo, documented his passion for these mountains in numerous books and films, which became known worldwide. Thanks to Trenker, the rocky shapes of the Dolomites became known for the first time on an international level. Finally there is the “king of the eight-thousanders,” Reinhold Messner. Since childhood he has loved the Dolomites. From the window of his house in Val di Funes he could admire the Odle Mountains and may have understood from the start that the mountains would always be with him. Messner has conquered all the highest mountains on the planet, but there has always been a soft spot in his heart for the Dolomites: “They are not the highest, but they are certainly the most beautiful mountains in the world”.
Majestic cliffs, tall sharp peaks, impassible overhangs and jagged summits. The variety of forms and colors and of the valleys that cross the Dolomites, however, have not only charmed the great mountain climbers of history, but great artists as well. Le Corbusier (Switzerland-France 1887–1965), perhaps the greatest contemporary architect, saw in the Dolomites “the most beautiful natural architecture in the world”.