Wanderlust Experience at Kronplatz

At the end of October 2022, Wanderlust Vision chose Kronplatz, a mountain resort in the Dolomites of South Tyrol, as the new stop on its Grand Tour.

The centerpiece of the event was a piano performance by Alessandro Martire at 2275m altitude at the Lumen Museum and supported by Woolrich.

Mountains can be experienced in countless ways: solo, with others, at low altitude, at high altitude, observing or climbing.

The Wanderlust Vision team wanted to organize a three-day immersive experience, involving ten national and international guests so that different contaminations between people and projects could be created.

Wanderlust Vision is a brand that exists because it believes in travel as the perfect experience to grow, learning the value and respect of others and their surroundings. 

Exploration is constantly moving action that evolves and transforms based on the needs and challenges we find during our journey. Wanderlust Vision's proposal is to challenge ourselves along the way to seek dynamic solutions that engage our individuality, the collective, and the world, continually interweaving cultures and diversity.

On the first day, the group enjoyed a guided indoor climbing experience at the Bruneck climbing center, Heliks.

Measuring oneself against a vertical wall is a way to look upward, to go beyond one's limits, internal and external, and to consecrate the concept of trust with the person one is connected to.

The Heliks climbing wall was opened in 2015 and fits into the city's school zone so that it is also used by students.

There are three different types of sport climbing areas within the facility: a sector for climbing with a harness, an instructional sector for teaching climbing safely, and a free climbing sector called "bouldering", where it is possible to safely and freely climb short sections, from easy to very challenging. There is also a 17-meter-high outdoor climbing sector with an attached grandstand for about 200 spectators.

On the second day early in the morning we set off to explore the Lumen and Messner museums, the former dedicated to mountain photography and the latter to mountaineering, as can be deduced from the name, Reinhold Messner being one of the greatest mountaineers in history.

Between historical images and contemporary technology, these spaces manage to tell the story of mountains from a variety of perspectives, celebrating memory with an eye toward the future.

The two museums are within walking distance: as very different as they are complementary, they manage to give different visions of the mountain to visitors who choose to spend time inside.

The Lumen Museum, opened in 2018, is a dynamic and modern architectural structure that is the result of a renovation project of the former mountain station of the Plan de Corones cable car, curated by architect Gerhard Mahlknecht and with design by Giò Forma.

A multifunctional structure that combines exhibitions, events and Alpine cuisine, tracing the history of photographic art from its origins to the contemporary era.

The building has a view in all four cardinal directions, even beyond the provincial borders, from the Lienz Dolomites in the east to the Ortles in the west, from the Marmolada in the south to the Zillertal Alps in the north.

The Messner Museum was designed by architect Zaha Hadid, famous for her free-form designs that fit into environments while respecting space and natural connotations.

The choice of concrete for exterior and interior cladding is because no other material lends itself as well to being cast in all imaginable volumes. Moreover, it is the one that best suits the "rock" theme, from both an optical and tactile point of view.

Inside, the museum traces the evolution of modern mountaineering, the improvements made over the past 250 years in equipment, and the triumphs and tragedies that have taken place on the sides of the world's most famous mountains.

At 11AM, at the Lumen Museum in one of the main and most brightly lit rooms, the piano performance by Alessandro Martire, a pianist and composer whose peculiarities include playing his pieces in unusual and spectacular locations.

The performance consisted of a set of CC-tapis brand carpets and a rhythmic modulation of light from blue to white.

The entire performance can be seen on the YouTube platform.

Alessandro Martire is an Italian pianist and composer born in Como on July 12, 1992.

His compositions are a blend of contemporary classical, pop, minimalist and crossover music, which has enabled him to achieve a personal style appreciated by audiences, critics and major international brands.

His performances are also characterized by the use of a piano called Waves, designed especially for him by a company in the Como area and intended to symbolize the movement of water and nature.

Alessandro Martire says that his main inspiration comes from traveling, which is why the basis of his communication is to place his particular piano within magnificent environments and countries in which he frees his compositions.

"I return the music to the place from which I was inspired"

[quoted by Martire TedX]

What are we left with when we return from the journey?

The memory of a place and an experience comes through images and landscapes, but also through the people with whom we experienced a particular adventure. 

Sounds are an integral part of what makes up our memorizing and remembering what we did, they are able to quickly reactivate and connect us with what we experienced.

Wanderlust Vision travels by creating a trail of sounds and songs that blend with the land and cultures encountered.

Speaking of the memory that binds us to territories, we mentioned touch for climbing, sight for landscapes and architecture, and hearing for music. But, another fundamental and non-negligible element is taste. 

At lunchtime, the guests were treated to an experience at Norbert Niedelkofler's Alpinn restaurant, a culinary journey that forms only from the raw materials of the area and brings the guest to know the place in which he or she is placed from an additional and different point of view.

Norbert Niedelkofler is Executive Chef of the 3-Michelin-starred St. Hubertus at Hotel Rosa Alpina and owner of AlpiNN Food Space and Restaurant, home of the Cook the Mountain project. A native of the Aurina Valley in South Tyrol, he is committed to preserving the local cultural heritage.

AlpiNN's menu is based on seasonality and territoriality: each dish represents the mountains, the hard work of farmers and ranchers, the quality of their products, the traditions handed down, care and perseverance.

The raw materials come from about 40 local producers that the chef knows personally: every product found in the dishes was sourced directly from the areas surrounding the restaurant. To quote the chef, "from here you can see my producers' fields."

Goat's milk, roots, and seasonal vegetables meet on the table blending with what the area offers; there is no olive oil, for example, as the neighboring land offers no olive trees.

The AlpiNN restaurant calls itself a "free bottle zone" in that it uses water dispensers and purifiers from the company BWT, whose mission is to zero out the use of plastic bottles in favor of glass carafes that can be filled when needed.

Cook the Mountain is thus a project that investigates the values that, globally, unite culturally and socially the people who experience mountains as a resource, passion, challenge and heritage to be protected. By linking mountain culture and traditions with cuisine and gastronomy around the world, it is possible to contribute to the sustainable growth of the entire planet and redefine its socio-economic development by exploring the aspects that link production, product, territory and consumption.

Following lunch, after allowing adequate time to observe the places around us, the group began the descent on foot to return to the valley.

Walking in the mountains, a practice that binds us to the fellow travelers who are with us and to those who, for a few moments, we pass on the way.

The third and final day opens with a guided yoga session to close the lived experience by contemplating in silence and coming into living connection with one's body, mind and senses.