Bivacco Buffa di Perrero — Monte Cristallo, Cortina d’Ampezzo
Former First World War barracks · restored by the 6th Alpini Regiment, 2022 · Monte Cristallo, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
Photograph by Evelyne Chassagneux-Bonini, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · photographed 31 July 2017 (camera date), before the roof collapse of winter 2020/21 and the 2022 restoration. Full photograph shown; resized for display.
A row of shuttered windows and a balcony rail sit in a notch of bare limestone, with nothing above or below but cliff. The Bivacco Buffa di Perrero is a former military shelter on Monte Cristallo above Cortina d’Ampezzo, reached only by the Ivano Dibona via ferrata or by helicopter. There is no artist: it began as wartime barracks, and Alpini troops rebuilt it. Cortina tourism · ANA · il Dolomiti Checked
5 things to know
- It is named after a colonelThe shelter honours Colonel Carlo Buffa di Perrero. ANA · il Dolomiti Checked The Alpini association adds that he was decorated with gold and silver medals for military valour, and quotes a silver-medal citation dated Monte Cristallo, 21 October 1915. ANA Reported
- Snow broke the roofHeavy snow in winter 2020/21 crushed the roof and left the bivouac unusable, removing the only shelter on that stretch of the mountain. il Dolomiti · l’Adige · ANA Checked
- Its second renovationAlpine troops and the ANA’s Cadore section had already renovated the bivouac in 1972, for the Alpini corps’ centenary. The 2022 repair was led by the 6th Alpini Regiment with the ANA’s Cortina group. ANA · l’Adige · ANA, 2023 Checked
- Timber from the RegoleAccording to the Alpini association, the Regole d’Ampezzo authorised the work with the town and donated all the timber. il Dolomiti repeats the same wording. ANA · il Dolomiti Reported
- Carpenters camped on the cliffl’Adige reports that the Curzel brothers, with climbers Luca Spreafico and Fabio Bortolozzo Mussner, worked for five days and slept in tents above 2,700 metres, with materials flown in by helicopter. Their work featured in the TV series Falegnami ad alta quota. l’Adige · ANA, 2023 Reported
Check-in guide
- 📍
- On Monte Cristallo, roughly halfway along the Ivano Dibona via ferrata, Cortina d’Ampezzo (province of Belluno). Cortina tourism · il Dolomiti Checked Cortina’s guide names the spot Forcella Padeon; the Alpini association places it near the Vecio del Forame. Cortina tourism · ANA Reported
- 🧗
- Only reachable by the Dibona via ferrata or by helicopter. ANA · il Dolomiti Checked Cortina rates the ferrata as difficult and for experts; it starts behind the closed Rifugio Lorenzi and opens with the 30-metre “Ponte Cristallo” suspension bridge. Cortina tourism Reported
- ⚠️
- This is high-mountain terrain. Check the route and conditions with Cortina’s official ferrata page before setting out.
Sightings
- 201731 Jul
Hut in the rock · camera date
- 20223 Aug
Alpini begin repairs
- 20225 Aug
il Dolomiti on the collapse
- 202223 Aug
Restored, open again
- 202210 Nov
L’Alpino: training at the hut
- 202314 Mar
TV episode announced
- 202417 Sep
Cortina ferrata guide
The green stamp is a camera date; amber stamps are publication dates. l’Adige reported on 23 August 2022 that the restoration was complete and the bivouac available again. The status stamp follows L’Alpino (10 November 2022), which reports that on 14 October 2022 the deputy commander of the Alpine troops and the 6th Alpini Regiment carried out high-altitude training there: the newest dated account of the restored bivouac in use. Cortina’s ferrata guide, published in September 2024, still describes the shelter as restored in 2022, but it is a route description, not a visit report.
On the record
Back in use
“Ma già oggi, grazie al lavoro di trentini e penne nere, è tornato a disposizione sia dei turisti…”
“But already today, thanks to the work of the Trentino carpenters and the Alpini, it is available again to tourists…”
Two ways up
“il bivacco è raggiungibile solamente percorrendo la ferrata Dibona oppure con l’ausilio di un elicottero”
“the bivouac can only be reached by the Dibona via ferrata or with the help of a helicopter”
A wartime refuge
“La struttura è stata una caserma, un riparo e un ricovero per gli Alpini a partire dalla prima guerra mondiale”
“The structure has been a barracks, a shelter and a refuge for the Alpini since the First World War”
The facts
- Structure
- Former military barracks in the rock face, now a bivouac shelter. Cortina tourism · il Dolomiti Checked
- Name
- Named after Colonel Carlo Buffa di Perrero. ANA · il Dolomiti Checked
- Builder
- No original builder is named in the sources we read; Cortina’s guide dates the barracks to 1915. Cortina tourism Reported Used by the Alpini since the First World War. il Dolomiti Reported
- Location
- Monte Cristallo, on the Ivano Dibona via ferrata, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Belluno, Italy. Cortina tourism · ANA · il Dolomiti Checked
- Altitude
- 2,760 metres in Cortina’s guide, in il Dolomiti and in the ANA’s 2023 article. Cortina tourism · il Dolomiti · ANA, 2023 About 2,700 metres (“quota 2.700”) in the ANA’s 2022 articles and in l’Adige. ANA, 2022 · l’Adige Conflicting We lean towards 2,760 m: it is the more precise figure, and the ANA itself used it in 2023.
- Restorations
- 1972, by Alpine troops and the ANA Cadore section. ANA · l’Adige Checked 2022, led by the 6th Alpini Regiment. ANA · il Dolomiti Checked In collaboration with the ANA’s Cortina group (Cadore section). ANA, 2023 · L’Alpino Reported Carpentry by the Curzel brothers. l’Adige Reported The ANA links the 2022 work to the Alpini corps’ 150th anniversary. ANA, 2023 Reported
- Inauguration
- Announced for 17 September 2022 by il Dolomiti (5 August) and l’Adige (23 August); announced for 1 October 2022 by the ANA (3 August). il Dolomiti · l’Adige · ANA Conflicting We lean towards 17 September, the date in the later report, but we found no account of the ceremony itself. Unconfirmed
- Status
- Seen October 2022: restored and available again by 23 August 2022, l’Adige, and used for Alpini high-altitude training on 14 October 2022. L’Alpino Reported Cortina’s guide, published September 2024, describes it as restored in 2022. Cortina tourism Reported
- Photograph
- Evelyne Chassagneux-Bonini, 31 July 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0; taken before the 2020/21 collapse, so it shows the hut before the latest rebuild. Commons file Checked
Related
- Odd Art and Architecture (12 Photos): the SAU collection that includes the bivouac.
- 6 Real Buildings That Look Impossible: more real structures in unlikely places.
All sources (7)
Official and Alpini records
- Cortina d’Ampezzo tourism: Via ferrata Ivano Dibona, published 17 September 2024. Position on the route, Forcella Padeon, 2,760 m, 1915, restored 2022.
- ANA: Bivacco Carlo Buffa di Perrero – Iniziati i lavori di ristrutturazione, 3 August 2022. Namesake, 1972 renovation, collapse, 6th Alpini, Regole timber, access, inauguration planned 1 October.
- L’Alpino (ANA): Il bivacco nella roccia, Mario Bisica, 10 November 2022. 2,700 m, 1972 renovation, 2022 project with the ANA Cortina group, high-altitude training at the bivouac on 14 October 2022 (basis of the status stamp). Same organisation as above; not counted separately.
- ANA: the restoration told by “Falegnami ad alta quota”, 14 March 2023. 2,760 m, 150th anniversary, TV episode on Dmax. Same organisation; not counted separately.
Local press
- il Dolomiti: Gli alpini tornano sul bivacco Buffa di Perrero, Luca Pianesi, 5 August 2022. 2,760 m, winter 2020/21 collapse, inauguration planned 17 September.
- l’Adige: Impresa in quota, rinasce il bivacco, 23 August 2022. Carpenters and climbers, five days on site, restoration complete, 17 September inauguration.
Photograph
- Evelyne Chassagneux-Bonini: Abri militaire via ferrata Ivano Dibona, 31 July 2017, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source of the hero and share images (share image cropped to 16:9).
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