Tofane (Cortina)

The Tofane are the striking massif above Cortina d'Ampezzo; the Tofana di Mezzo reaches 3,244 m. The Freccia nel Cielo cable car leads in several sections almost to the summit. The famous World Cup downhills and the hosting of Olympic ski races (1956 and 2026) make the area Cortina's alpine flagship.

Highlights

• Tofana di Mezzo (3,244 m)
• Freccia nel Cielo cable car
• World Cup and Olympic downhills
• Panorama over the Ampezzo Dolomites

Good to know

Practical info

Background & History

The Tofane, a massif of three mighty peaks above Cortina d’Ampezzo, are among the most impressive mountain giants of the Dolomites. Like the whole range, their pale walls consist of the petrified heritage of primeval coral reefs that once grew on the floor of a tropical sea; the French naturalist Déodat de Dolomieu recognised the peculiarity of this rock in the 18th century. Cortina itself, picturesquely situated in the wide valley basin of the Ampezzo, became the elegant stage of winter sport and hosted the Winter Olympic Games.

Over the beauty, however, lies the shadow of the First World War. In the Tofane and on the neighbouring Lagazuoi ran the front line between Italy and Austria-Hungary, and both sides drove tunnels miles long into the rock, to undermine enemy positions and to find shelter from the hail of shells. One of these galleries, driven in a steep tunnel through the mountain, is today accessible as a secured via ferrata and leads hikers through the pitch-dark interior of the rock. To this day trenches, positions and open-air museums around the Tofane and the nearby Cinque Torri bear witness to that bitter mountain war, which raged for whole years at extreme altitude and cold. So the quiet, sun-lit walls above Cortina still bear the wounds of a conflict fought out high up in ice and rock, uniting magnificent natural beauty with admonishing memory.