Who we are - Rifugio Silvio Agostini

Since 1976 in the Brenta Dolomites!

It might seem like an advertising slogan, but this is a date that has left its mark on the history of the Silvio Agostini refuge.
In fact, it was in the spring of that year that my father Ignazio interrupted his work in the cooperative family of San Lorenzo, abandoning a place that was as precious as it was safe at the time, to take over the management of the Refuge vacated by the previous Pinzolo managers. These were very demanding years, in the village it was rumored that only a madman could make this choice, the refuge was quite worn out from the beginning with the need for several interventions.

The first day we all went up together, Pope Ignazio, mother Mariella, my brother Maurizio, I who was 6 years old at the time and Agnese an employee. In that winter it snowed a lot and a large avalanche closed the road in the central part of the valley. at the height of the last bridge the “pont de Paride”.
We climb slowly, in the thick fog in the middle of meters of snow, each one his own weight … in my small backpack I still remember, candles, a few torches with spare batteries and 2 liters of milk.

After a few hours…

…we arrive at the shelter and it was covered in snow. My father tries to light the fireplace with the little and damp wood present. Since that day I have carried the scent of the wood of the refuge alive in my heart, the same sensation I feel incredibly every first time the refuge opens after the winter hibernation!

The following year he manages to build a small cableway and from there is a succession of constant improvements that lead the refuge to quickly become one of the favorite destinations in the Brenta Dolomites.
Summers go by, I don’t remember having seen them in the valley, I’m fine at the refuge, of course we work, my apprenticeship is complete, from the bathrooms to the bedrooms, to washing dishes, rigorously washed by hand … and chores in the kitchen, where it comes from then my passion for cooking!
Over time my brother Maurizio stopped in the valley as the intrepid and unstoppable dad Ignazio started a hotel business in Andalo in the winter.

I still remember…

…the first summer alone at the refuge in my first management of the dining room at the age of 14, without my brother who, among other things, had instructed me properly on how to welcome everyone, even in German, alone is hard but there it forges better and from then on I begin to gather some wonderful satisfactions, the great mountaineer and mountain guide Elio Orlandi is at home at the refuge, we become great friends and over a few summers we have fun climbing all the great classics of the Val d’ Ambiez!
In 1993 we asked the SAT of Trento for trust in entrusting me with the management of the refuge, it is with great gratitude to this partnership that I still manage this activity today, in 1994 and 1995 the SAT completely renovated the refuge.
In that period I know Anita who will later become my wife and for a few years she will stay with me at the refuge, from our marriage Leonardo, Emanuele and Sara are born, then over time we open a small farm in the valley with an adjoining farmhouse, still managed today from our family.
To this day we still have the good fortune to be able to see my father Ignazio, the historic manager, at the refuge during certain periods of the season, while Emanuele and me dedicate ourselves with enthusiasm to welcoming and managing the refuge.

Listen to the podcast

A beautiful interview made by a great Rai professional Ernesto Goio, with Roberto Cornella, Ignazio Cornella, Elio Orlandi and Ruggero Carli, a beautiful set of testimonies to listen to even calmly with good music, lasts about 50 minutes (italian language)

www.raiplaysound.it/audio/2022/01/Il-Rifugio