The emotions of Hugo Reider, the historic manager of Locatelli: «With my colleagues I am creating an opening to bring food up. Each day of excavation allows us to advance just a hundred meters “
THREE PEAKS OF LAVAREDO. A slow and tiring march between two walls of snow, in some places up to six meters high. The story of Hugo Reider, historic manager of the Locatelli refuge at the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, is a mixture of sensations and emotions. A landscape context at the limits of the imaginable, never recorded before in the shadow of the natural symbol of the Dolomites, Unesco heritage. “There is no time to waste”, he explains, “we are working every day, from dawn to dusk, to open the road that will allow us to reach the refuge and reopen it in time to accommodate the first tourists of the summer season”.
An exhausting and at the same time dangerous job but, as they say, “someone has to do it”. Hugo, tell us about the situation in the Tre Cime.
«Every year in these times we meet, in agreement with the managers of the Auronzo and Lavaredo huts, to establish the modalities of intervention on path 101, the one that leads from Auronzo to Locatelli. We have always done the job of cleaning the path from the snow. Because we? Someone has to do it. The truth is, that path is vital for us. This is the only viable route (starting from the Auronzo refuge once reached via the road that climbs from Misurina to the Tre Cime) with the means to bring food and everything you need to the refuge during the summer season. This is why we personally take care of opening the path ».
Why don’t you reach the refuge by alternative means?
“The helicopter costs too much and the mules are not taken into consideration for a long time as a means of transport.”
Yet this year things are going differently than in the past.
“We found a wall of snow, something incredible. In the area of Forcella Lavaredo the altitude reaches even five or six meters. It is the result of the many avalanches that occur daily in that area. On average, the snow depth is one and a half meters, always a lot. We had never before found so much snow in June ».
What are you doing to open the way and reach the Locatelli refuge?
“We are working from morning to night like crazy. How many? In two. They are Florian (Holzer), our historical collaborator and Daniele (Vecellio Taiarezze) from the Lavaredo refuge. The two of them are enough and advance, even if a group of Army soldiers would be useful. Seriously, you work better this way, the most important part is done by the six-ton excavator that breaks through the snow wall with a bucket. In the morning, from 6 to 16 Florian uses it, from 16 until night it passes through Daniele’s hands. Impossible to do more, even with more people ».
Isn’t it dangerous to move around that area?
“We have had all the reassurances of the case from the authorities in charge of doing it. We ask constant support from those who deal with weather forecasts and avalanche risk ».
When do you expect to be able to reach the Locatelli refuge?
«The work is hard, we manage to advance for a hundred meters every day, no more. But let’s not despair. If everything goes smoothly as we hope we hope to reach the refuge within the week. From 20 June we will begin to arrange everything in such a way as to guarantee the opening on the date set for some time, that of 26 June ».
How important is the removal of snow from path 101 from a tourist point of view?
«The opening of the path is mainly for us, because without that path we would never be able to open the refuge. Tourists would also get there by passing over the snow. I don’t think all this snow will be a problem for long. Forecasts for next week are good weather and rising temperatures. These two elements are enough to see the snow melt even half a meter a day ».
Will the snow scare the tourists or not?
“Absolutely not. The tourist season will begin according to long-established schedules. On June 26, the opening date, we already have the entire refuge full and we continue to receive telephone calls for reservations. The only limit is represented by the anti Covid provisions that take away our beds and seats at the table but we adapt ».
Said of the Locatelli refuge, which will open on June 26, less waiting for the two refuges located on the Auronzano side of the Tre Cime: the Lavaredo of the aforementioned Daniele Vecellio Taiarezze will open its doors next weekend as well as the Auronzo refuge, owned by the section Cai di Auronzo, as announced in recent days by the president Stefano Muzzi.