Qhis is the story of four twenty-year-olds (plus one) who they have the mountain in their blood. By practicing sport, they have learned to love high altitude, made up of landscapes that are sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile, which test those who want to experience them with high doses of adrenaline, but also of satisfaction.
Poor mountain
Sara Segantin, Adele Zaini and Alessia Iotti met in Brescia in May 2021, on the occasion of a demonstration by Fridays for Future (the international environmental protest movement born with Greta Unberg). And they discovered that they share the same passion for the high landswho are not doing so well these days.
Even if they are environments far from human presence, they suffer the consequences. Global warming is melting glaciers – in the Alps, two thirds of them will be lost by 2100, according to a study by the ETH Zurich – and the pollution we produce in the lowlands also affects the mountains.
Pesticides and microplastics are found in snow even at high altitudeswhile indiscriminate tourism and the excessive proliferation of facilities endanger environments that have a fragile balance.
From left, Adele Zaini, Austrian climber Lena Müller, Sara Segantin and Alessia Iotti in the Forchet forest in Austria.
Respect for nature
Together with the French climbing expert Eline Le Menestrel, the three girls conceived the project “United Mountains of Europe” (Ume). “We wanted to do something impactful to assert the rights of the mountains»Comments Adele Zaini, 25, the scientist of the group who speaks to us from Norway, where she is engaged in research for the thesis of the master’s degree in Climate Physics. “Abroad we are already following this path” adds Sara Segantin, 26, writer and popularizer, who grew up in the mountains in Cavalese, a stone’s throw from the Dolomites.
«The 2008 Constitution of Ecuador affirms nature’s right to be respected. The Whanganui River in New Zealand has been granted legal rights as a person, and the same principle applies to the Ganges. A law has also been approved in Italy amending art. 9 and 41 of our Constitution, for the protection of the landscape, the environment and biodiversity“.
The rights of the “high lands”
So, with the idea of promoting the rights of the high lands, the four girls – to whom a fifth was later added, Giorgia Garancini – they have devised a journey to cross the Alps from east to west, with the aim of reaching the Pyrenees. «We wanted to have a look at the mountains as a meeting point, and not as a barrier that separates them» adds Zaini. “We also had a gender equality issue at heart: we wanted to affirm our presence as women, activists and mountaineers. Even today, mountaineering is mostly male“.
Thus, at the end of July 2021, the “United Mountains of Europe” expedition started with the aim of combining one of the elements of the mountain (water, earth, ice, air, rock) with a critical issue to be investigated and a sport. In Slovenia, the group practiced caving to visit karst caves.
Natural caves used as landfills
“Natural cavities have often been used in Italy and Slovenia as landfills, where construction waste is also thrown away ”explains Segantin. “Thus the underground aquifers are polluted.” Starting with the Slovenian stage, the girls from Ume have always wove a dialogue with associations and local people, to understand the problems and act as spokespersons for their needs.
An exhibition is coming in the fall
SALEWA Alpine Campus 2021
Second stop in Austria, at the Forchet forest, a natural habitat under attack due to the advancement of human activities. «We went trekking and met Marianne Goetsch, the representative of WWF Austria, with whom we discussed the importance of protecting biodiversityalso to counter the climate crisis »adds Segantin.
Then it was the turn of Switzerland, where the girls got on Morterasch glacier, a giant that is liquefying. «Let’s not forget that what happens at high altitude has consequences downstream» explains Sara. At stake are our water reserves.
A mountain accessible to all
Finally, in Val di Mello, a delicate issue was addressed: to what extent must the mountain be accessible to all? Here a path is being built to allow access for the disabled, disputed locally for the environmental damage it is causing and because, according to some, the pre-existing path would already be sufficient.
The group should have arrived in Spain to address the issue noise pollution due, for example, to the unregulated use of drones, but the trip ended earlier due to bad weather, a serious obstacle in the high mountains. Also, Eline had to limit her participation due to a health problem. “The journey was only part of the plan»Emphasizes Adele.
The declaration of the rights of the mountain
“At this point, we should have worked hard to write the declaration of the rights of the mountains, but we realized that a specific competence is needed for this task. The next step, therefore, was to turn to the institutions ». Also bringing the voice of those who live there in the mountains. «In Brussels, those who make the laws are very far from the mountains» comments Alessia Iotti, 27, illustrator and student in Museum Education in Brescia. “It is necessary to include the instances of those who know the mountains because he lives there”.
The date of the11 December, international mountain dayto organize an event in the Belgian capital, involving politicians, experts, athletes and associations, with a discussion in the morning, a concert in the afternoon and then a march to the Commission, where the requests of “United Mountains of Europe” were delivered to Marco Onida, Director General for the Environment of the European Commission.
The project does not stop
Saldana, Natgeo
And now? “Covid and war have stopped us. But we will go on»Comments Segantin. “We are working on a documentary film and an exhibition, scheduled for autumn. We understood how important it is to network. Today each reality faces its problems in isolation, we want there to be a link to defend the mountain. With social media, you can ».
Adds Backpacks: «The high mountains must be lived in a sustainable and respectful way. She is a teacher of life, she teaches you solidarity. You face it with your own strength, getting rid of the superfluous. She forces you to think about your physical and mental limits as a human being, and she offers you a lesson in humility that you carry with you in your daily life ».
Among the many people you met, who will you remember from this trip? «Austrian climber Lena Müller, who teaches how to reach the mountains by bicycle and not by car, so as not to pollute» agree Sara and Adele. “I was struck by an Italian girl who works with immigrants who cross the woods between Slovenia and Italy” concludes Alessia. “We dealt with the underground water flow, she dealt with the human flow at the surface. For us walking was a sport, for those people the woods are the way to salvation“.
Headlights on the 2026 Olympics
Major events are a source of income for the territories, but attention must be paid to the forms of exploitation.
Tourism and mountain protection do not always go hand in hand. It is right that the beauty of the mountain is also a source of income for those who live there, but some forms of exploitation of the environment jeopardize a delicate balance. “THEMy country, Cavalese, is involved in the 2026 Winter Olympics»Comments Segantin.
“A widespread Olympics is positive: it helps to enhance multiple territories without weighing on a single placeor. However, the incoming money must be used to promote sustainable tourism and electric mobility. The territory must not be disfigured and the infrastructures built for the event must be able to last over time “. In short, we need to find a way to combine respect for ecosystems with economic activities. The high mountain, however, cannot be as accessible as a funfair everywhere. For instance, extreme sport like heliskiing pollutes, can cause avalanches and scares wildlife. At the regulatory level, an International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (Cipra) has existed since 1952. The Alpine Convention (1991) it is instead a treaty signed by eight countries with the aim of having a common approach to this territory. But the presence of different regional and national rules does not facilitate the defense of the high lands.
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