Alpine guides, boom in requests in the Dolomites, “A sold out summer”

President Sweepers: “Whoever contacts us wants to enjoy a safe holiday”. The “geotrails” have also started according to the project of the Unesco Dolomites Foundation

BELLUNO. It will be a busy summer for mountain guides and mid-mountain guides. This is said by the president of the Venetian mountain guides, Marco Brushini. «Already the winter season had seen many tourists turn to us for excursions even though there was not much snow, now for the summer we already have the booklets almost full and our colleagues are already ready. During the week “, Spazizni underlines,” I will leave personally with a group of American guys who will come for 15 days in the Unesco Dolomites, in Cortina and then in Badia, to take experiential holidays, experimenting with via ferratas, trekking, nights spent in bivouacs and canyoning ” .

Contacts with mountain guides or mid-mountain guides take place through private sites, thanks to personal acquaintances or through travel agencies. Sometimes it is the same mountain resorts that, through the tourist offices, organize tours at high altitude.

The availability of the guides ranges from one day to a few days: “Surely the foreigner aims at a performance on our part of several days, families, on the other hand, are oriented towards a one-day excursion”, says the Venetian president of the category, satisfied with the increase in requests for services: «People want to gain experience in the mountains but in safety, under the guidance of expert people. And this is appreciable ».

Depending on the age of the users, the requests to the guides also change. «Young people mostly ask for dynamic and adrenaline-pumping activities such as canyoning. This is an activity that is going very well, especially on the high mountain streams of which the Dolomites are rich. Middle-aged people or families prefer hikes, walks and in this case they are guided by mid-mountain guides. Sometimes they also ask for via ferratas or activities in the glaciers ».

The bicycle is also doing very well: «We are also prepared for pedal assisted mountain biking, which allows you to tackle rough and steep paths, relieving fatigue, but still guaranteeing a certain thrill. This too is an activity requested by a very large audience of tourists “, Sweepers points out, who highlights how this boom in the mountains was found after the entry of the Dolomites into the Unesco heritage:” A brand that has influenced and made more the knowledge of our mountains is interesting ».

The alpine guides also provide the equipment to their customers: after a short meeting in the morning before leaving, in which some basic notions and rules are given for the activity at high altitude, the group sets off.

As for the tariffs, “the prices are indicative, given that the free market was launched with the Bersani law”, says Sweepers, who then recalls: “Together with the Unesco Foundation we have launched ad hoc training to allow geotrails envisaged by the Foundation itself, with the aim of making tourists aware of the geological composition of these mountains that are unique in the world ».