Slow holidays in Alta Badia

by Anna de Polo

Walking in nature and wild landscapes, doing outdoor sports, enjoying healthy food and relaxing away from the stress and pollution of the city: these are some of the ingredients of a holiday in the mountains as conceived by most of us. From this year in South Tyrol one more ingredient is proposed: deciding not to use the car for the duration of your stay. This is what expected by the initiative "Stop ma con gusto” (Stop but with taste), launched by the Tourist Consortium Alta Badia: who adheres to it must hand over on arrival the keys of his car, which will be symbolically sealed with a biodegradable band bearing the inscription "Stop ma con gusto”. In return he will receive a box of typical organic products and the repayment of the Mountain Pass, a card that allows you to use 12 summer lifts and the public transports to travel from one country to another and towards the Dolomite passes.The card also gives discounts on many facilities on the entrance to the ice stadium in Corvara, the public swimming pool, the cinema and much more. The aim of the initiative is to limit the traffic of cars in the valley, reducing both atmospheric and noise pollution, and to encourage visitors to experience their holiday in a simpler and healthier way, walking, cycling or using public transports. Easy to say but a little less to do, for those accustomed to using the car daily, but choosing to spend holidays in the mountains means choosing nature, sport and wellness and what more than traffic is enemy of all these three?

In Val Badia environmental sensitivity has become a tradition: investment in green building, biomass district heating, non-polluting lifts and recycling are just some of the choices that governments make every year in South Tyrol for the environment. Last April, for example, was launched the competition "Il prato più bello” (The most beautiful field), on the initiative of the provincial councilors Hans Berger and Michl Laimer, who explain:«The competition is much more than just a race, because in the year of biodiversity we wanted to draw attention to the significance of fields intact in their biodiversity, well-groomed and harmoniously incorporated into the landscape». Currently the participants are 150. Expired the deadline for entering the competition, the second stage involves the assessment of the fields, on the basis of various indicators such as site, biodiversity, use, structural diversity, size and more, while the award ceremony will take place in autumn.

But remaining in terms of "taste", this year the Tourist Consortium Alta Badia also offers, after the success of winter "Sciare con gusto” (Skiing with taste), the new summer trend “Peaks of Gastronomy”: a series of events that combine the pleasure of walking with that one of good food in some of the most beautiful places of the Dolomites, including three UNESCO World Heritage sites in June 2009. The program of the various proposals is full of ideas and tasty appointments, ranging from “Alta Badia Apenrosa aperitif”, aperitif with typical South Tyrolean products, every Thursday, to the “A taste for walking in Alta Badia”, at the alms with degustation, to the “Breakfast in the mountain refuge”, to enjoy the sunrise while enjoying local products.

If tourism is not just a "disposable" approach to the territory, but also a way to get in touch with nature and the people of a certain place, it is right that those who choose to stay in Alta Badia come into line with the South Tyrolean population and its strong environmental sensitivity. If they love and protect their natural environment, all the more so we should do it ourselves, which are only "guests", by abandoning our cherished car for a week or two.