Top of the World
Pelmo is a mountain of the Zoldo Dolomites which reaches 3,168 m above sea level, located east of the Staulanza pass, separating the Zoldo and Fiorentina valleys from the Boite valley. It is flanked to the west by a lower but no less imposing nucleus (Pelmetto, 2990 m), separated by the Fisura gullies. Its peculiar aspect, represented by two monoliths, is a distinctive feature of this mountain, known by the locals as "al caregon de'l Padreterno", "the throne of God", because of the wide depression of the glacial cirque visible from its eastern side, which makes it look like a chair. Many people do not know that Mount Pelmo was the first peak in the Dolomites to be climbed: on 19th September 1857 the Englishman John Ball reached the summit, passing through what was later called Ball's ledge. He was accompanied by a local guide who did not reach the summit. Ball later wrote that he had chosen Pelmo for his first ascent because it seemed to him the most beautiful of all the Dolomite mountains he had seen. The Pelmetto was instead reached in 1896 by the guides Clemente Callegari (called the Battistrada) and Angelo Panciera (called the Mago). From its summit, you can see most of the mountains of the Dolomite arc, among the most famous the Antelao (3264 m), the Lastoi de Formin (2657 m), the Cernera group (2657 m), the Tofane (3244 m), the Croda da lago (2701 m), the Marmolada (3343 m) and the Civetta (3220 m), as well as the Sorapis (1085 m) and the Cristallo (3221 m). You can also see the Cortina basin, the valleys of Zoldo and Selva di Cadore, as well as the plateau of Mondeval and Giau. At the base of Pelmo there are three refuges: the Venezia-Alba Maria De Luca Refuge 1,947 m to the east, the Città di Fiume Refuge 1,918 m to the north-west and the Passo Staulanza Refuge 1,766 m to the west.
