From mid-June to mid-September, Val di Fassa will have its first rangers. Carolina Chenetti and Marco Mazzel have been selected by the Val di Fassa Tourist Board to take on this innovative and strategic role, designed to enhance the welcome and overall experience for visitors during the peak summer season.
Carolina is from Moena. A ski instructor in winter, she also has professional experience in the tourism sector, including working for a travel agency. Marco, from Canazei, is a keen nature lover and wildlife photographer, a trainee mid-mountain guide and a chef. The two rangers will be on duty from the early morning until late afternoon, operating mainly at the valley’s five Dolomite mountain passes – Sella, Pordoi, Fedaia, Costalunga and San Pellegrino – as well as at some of the most popular destinations among hikers, including Fuciade, Val Duron and Val San Nicolò.
Easily recognisable by their distinctive green uniforms, the rangers will provide visitors with information and advice, helping them choose routes, walks and destinations that are best suited to their abilities and needs.
“We’ll be stationed at the busiest spots,” explain Carolina Chenetti and Marco Mazzel, “to provide information about the main roads and walking routes, as well as the opportunities available in the area. It is becoming increasingly common for people visiting the Dolomites for the first time, or those who are not properly equipped, to venture into the mountains. Our role will therefore also be to inform and educate visitors, helping them enjoy the mountains safely and responsibly.”
Alongside their role in welcoming and assisting visitors, the rangers will also carry out surveillance and environmental monitoring. Following specific training with mountain guides and members of the Val di Fassa mountain rescue service, they will monitor rest areas at the Dolomite passes to help prevent unauthorised wild camping and ensure that waste is disposed of properly, both along the roads crossing the passes and on the most popular hiking trails.
The introduction of the rangers represents a further investment by ApT Val di Fassa in providing information and promoting the sustainable management of visitor numbers at high altitude. The initiative complements the information points that have been operating for several years at the valley’s main mountain lift stations – Col Rodella, Belvedere di Canazei, Ciampedìe and San Pellegrino – where Tourist Board staff provide daily assistance to visitors.
“The rangers will also play an important role in monitoring visitor flows,” explains Nicolò Weiss, director of ApT Val di Fassa. “For several years now, we have been collecting data through a network of sensors installed along the most popular routes.
“This information is invaluable when it comes to making strategic decisions about trail management and maintenance, as well as communication and the promotion of alternative routes, with the aim of distributing visitors more evenly across the area.”
With this new initiative, Val di Fassa joins neighbouring Val Gardena and Val Badia, where rangers have been working for several years, further strengthening its commitment to a more responsible approach to tourism – one that places the quality of the visitor experience at its heart.
+39 0462 609500
