Double Dolomiti II

Here’s another, a snow-clad rocky peak, like the previous image, in the eastern half of the Dolomiti not far from Belluno. The Dolomiti were the proving ground for young Reinhold Messner, the greatest of all mountaineers, who grew up in South Tyrol or Süd Tirol, an area once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire but which was ceded to Italy after the First World War (Italians call the area Trentino-Alto Adige). Many Süd Tirolers still feel more culturally attached to Austria ; they speak German and their ethnic identities lay with south German alpine cultures rather than Mediterranean Italic. Messner conquered all of the great peaks of the Dolomites before going on to conquer the world’s most challenging mountains. Among his many accomplishments, he was the first person to climb all 14 world peaks over 8000 meters (26,247 ft) and also summited Everest without oxygen tanks.