Not just ski instructors, but also mountain leaders, Alpine guides, and instructors of other outdoor and mountain activities … Many ski instructors share a wide range of professional skills and the idea of taking advantage of these led to the foundation of the Dolomiti Sport e-motion sports association, an initiative arising out of collaboration between the Andalo Dolomiti di Brenta Ski School and the Fai della Paganella Ski School.
“The aim is to provide instruction for our visitors not just in winter but right through the year, offering mountain activities on foot or MTB, canoeing, sailing, or windsurfing on the Trentino lakes, and gliding,” explains Marco Villotti, an instructor at the Dolomiti di Brenta Ski School. “In this way we will try to extend and support the skills of our young people, who often abandon ski instructing because it is not enough to ensure an adequate and regular income.”
The Dolomiti di Brenta Ski School have also launched another initiative targeting young visitors. “A colouring album created in collaboration with the artist Fabio Vettori, aimed at children who are learning downhill skiing. As well as teaching skiing, it also has the educational purpose of helping children understand the mountain environment through activities complimentary to skiing, thanks to the diversified skills of our ski instructors.” This ecological education and training programme is focused on children from urban contexts, who are often completely unaware of the delicate but fascinating mountain environment in its entirety, with its combination of durability and fragility.
While the Future Lab workgroup is starting to work on the projects catalogue, these first initiatives demonstrate how the reasoning and reflections developed over the last two years have already been received and adopted by the local community. As explained by Villotti, “These initiatives were launched with the aim of achieving a more balanced tourism, in harmony with nature, which is our most important heritage. There is also the desire to always put people first, as set out in the ‘Values Charter’, a document recently shared by the local community on the evening of last 29 October.” Our ski instructor continued, “This is an opportunity for growth of individuals, and of the community to which we belong. If widely shared we believe it can bring great benefits for everyone, helping to cultivate and spread mountain culture among young people, be these visitors or locals.”
