Dear Members,
For some time now we have been hearing more and more about climate change, sometimes with amazement, sometimes with resignation, often wanting to ignore the issue, as if it concerned "others".
And yet, for us who frequent a particular environment for leisure, the mountains, we have seen and touched the change first-hand, for example, seeing the retreat of the glaciers, true water reservoirs indispensable for all living beings.
Our refuges, for years now, have been forced due to water shortages to vary the opening hours and services to offer to an increasingly demanding clientele who hopes, or sometimes expects, to find the same comforts that can be had in their own homes.
Then there are other less obvious changes that only the most attentive will have observed, such as the arrival or return of animal species previously absent in the mountain environment, or no longer present for some time; plants also follow the change, colonizing areas freed from ice and rising in altitude to escape the increase in temperature.
We can also see the changes in the landscape by thinking about how over the years the clearings and pastures have shrunk to the point of disappearing, due to the abandonment of the high lands, in the name of wild urbanization, and the lack of policies dedicated to the mountains and those who live them. Our way of spending time outdoors has also undergone changes. It often happens that we see hikers on the trails intent on consulting their cell phones, to have confirmation of what is around them; that at every ring they stop to see notifications, listen to messages and last but not least, to promptly share the world in what they are seeing.
We have the feeling that we are losing true contact with the outside. We let slip the particularities and sensations that at every step present themselves, always new and full of wonder. We do not want or dare not unplug from everyday life, thus giving up significant opportunities for healthy regenerating leisure.
Therefore, we will need to make changes to our way of living the mountain and everyday life, individually trying to implement good practices that can help reverse the current trend, without waiting for "others" to do it for us.
In conclusion, I hope that in these pages you too can find ideas to unplug and get away from everyday life for a few hours, finding the right ways to make a small change that, added to that of others, can make a difference.
Happy excursions all year round!

The President
Franco Moreno