!!! Dolomites

by Dmitry Moiseenko and Sergey Shandin,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

13 April 2016

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

I am a passionate skier. Every winter I have an irresistible desire to
visit ski slopes, no matter what area it is: Sochi, Europe, and even the
USA, though it is quite far. As for the Alps, I think there is no other
region so frequently visited by me but the Dolomites: it was both my
first European ski resort in 1995, and the most recent one, in February
2015.

A lot of resorts are located here: Cortina d'Ampezzo known for hosting
the Winter Olympic Games long time ago, Kronplatz, Moena. But I think
the best one for skiing and for contemplating the surrounding beauties
is the region of Sella Ronda. This is an extensive mountain massif,
surrounded by four valleys (Val di Fassa, Alta Badia, Val Gardena and
Arabba-Marmolada), which are connected by serpentine roads, but what is
more important — by ski routes and cable-cars. During several hours of
intense physical activity, you can make the whole circle in both
directions. And on your way back you have enough time to enjoy some hot
wine, served in numerous small restaurants, and amazing mountain
landscapes! The eyes of a traveler are always drawn to the triple peak
of Sassolungo, mighty Cir Spitzen and Col Pradat near Calfosch village.

[{Image src='01_Sassolungo mountain.jpg' caption='Sassolungo mountain' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='429'}]

When I came here to take pictures for the first time, I flew over the
whole area of Sella Ronda on a helicopter and created aerial panoramas
of the most significant places. The most remarkable moment was when the
pilot, having confirmed that I had finished my job and we were about to
return, brightened up and decided to show me some maneuvers. He nearly
entered a spin, flew over the valley at a very high speed, scared some
wild mountain sheep, almost made an extreme turnaround and finally
landed (while I was breathing heavily).

[{Image src='02_Tre Cime di Lavaredo.jpg' caption='Tre Cime di Lavaredo' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='608'}]

But to show the whole picture, we lacked some low views, like the ones
with snow-covered roofs of small cozy houses. And exactly for this
purpose I found a couple of spare days just after the Carnival of Venice
(luckily, the road from Venice to the Dolomites takes only two and a
half hours) and came here with a drone. Do you think that it was an easy
thing to find some time for taking pictures with skis constantly on my
feet and being surrounded by endless ski slopes? But my sense of duty
outweighed, and I think that these panoramas with a couple of beautiful
alpine towns will be an icing on the cake.

And here are few facts about Dolomites.

[{Image src='03_Colfosco village.jpg' caption='Colfosco village' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='521'}]

The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system in
Europe: the inner curved edge is stretching for almost 750 kilometers,
and the total length of the range is approximately 1,200 kilometers. The
maximum width of the Alps is 260 kilometers, and the highest point is
Mont Blanc (4,810 meters above sea level).

The provinces of Belluno, South Tyrol (Bolzano — Bozen), Pordenone,
Trento and Udine share the unique part of the South Alps, named the
Dolomites: according to the type of rock, dominating in its geological
structure. But it is not what the Dolomite Alps are famous for
throughout the world; after all, there are a lot of mountains on Earth
which have this carbonate mineral in their structure.

[{Image src='04_The Church of St Johann in Ranui.jpg' caption='The Church of St Johann in Ranui' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

First of all, the Dolomite Alps are the mountains of exceptional beauty.
Their slopes are almost vertical making an impression that the peaks are
bear the skies. Together with perfect conditions for skiing, it is a
very popular alpine ski destination. Covering the area of 15,9 thousand
square kilometers, stretching approximately 150 kilometers and having 18
summits above 3,000 meters, this massif possesses a couple of dozens of
ski-resorts with total route length of around 1,260 kilometers.

[{Image src='05_Porta Vescovo mountain.jpg' caption='Porta Vescovo mountain' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='417'}]

The highest peak of the Dolomites is Marmolada (3,342 meters), with its
ridge lying between regions Veneto and Trentino. Some of the world-wide
known resorts are located here: Cervinia, Val di Fassa, Kronplatz,
Arabba and many others. The famous resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo hosted
the Winter Olympic Games in 1956; a small town of Bormio, founded by the
Romans more than a thousand years ago is famous for its healing springs:
many famous people came here to recover, and one of them was Leonardo da
Vinci.

Majestic and picturesque mountains of the Dolomites with their ornate
sharp forms, vertical steeps, glaciers, rich alpine meadows and pure
mountain lakes are absolutely breathtaking in any season. Le Corbusier,
the outstanding French architect, called the Dolomite Alps "the greatest
natural architecture in the world".

[{Image src='06_Pragser Wildsee (Lake Braies - Lago di Braies).jpg' caption='Pragser Wildsee (Lake Braies - Lago di Braies)' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='610'}]

The UNESCO experts quite agree with him, and in 2009 the region was
declared a World Heritage Site, on the basis of the criteria VII and
VIII. The first one means that the site "contains superlative natural
phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic
importance", and the second one pays tribute to the sites — monuments of
the past and outstanding examples representing major stages of Earth's
history. You can easily make sure that all this is true with the help of
the AirPano panoramas.

\\ \\
[8 Panoramas of Dolomites|Geography/Europe/Italy/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Dolomites]










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