Forte di Bard lives up to its commitment to promoting scientific and research projects related to mountains and climate change. In this vein, the Umberto Mònterin, di ghiaccio e di sabbia (“of ice and sand”) exhibition is being held from 22 April to 4 December, 2022, in the section of the Museum of the Alps dedicated to temporary exhibitions. Umberto Mònterin, also known as the “mountaineering scientist”, was one of the pioneers of climatology in Italy and dedicated his whole life to studying the mountains, focusing in particular on the meteorological phenomena that characterise high altitudes and glaciers. He conducted passionate, meticulous field studies, observing natural phenomena that are still being investigated today.

Thanks to the collaboration of various research bodies and institutions and to his grandchildren, Umberto and Marta Mònterin, who have granted access to family photographic archives and to scientific instruments, the exhibition presents a selection of fascinating and important photographs and documents. The photographic plates produced by Mònterin in the early 1900s reveal his ability to combine photographic quality with the need to capture aspects of nature that were relevant to his research. The images, selected by the photographer Enrico Peyrot and the scientific curator Michele Freppaz, highlight the work carried out by the scientist in the fields of glaciology and climatology. Photographs of the totalising rain gauges and meteorological observatories at Col d’Olen, Capanna Margherita, and D’Ejola are on display as evidence of Mònterin’s work in the fields of meteorology and climatology.

The images of the expedition he carried out in the Libyan Sahara in 1934 on behalf of the Royal Italian Geographical Society are also extraordinary, accompanied by the restoration and screening of the “Kufra film” and examples of the geological samples collected during the expedition, now kept at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Turin. In this section, Michele Soffiantini, a desert explorer, leads the visitor from the ice deserts to the sand deserts, highlighting the exceptional nature of the feat accomplished by Mònterin.

Prices (*)
Full-price €8.00 | Concessions €7.00
*Including admission ticket to the Museum of the Alps