A high-altitude trail for disabled mountain-lovers in the European Year of Disabled People has been planned by the mountain community of Morbegno. The first initiative of its kind in the province of Sondrio, the trail will be laid out in Val Masino. Work on the project began just a few days ago; the first part will be a circuit around the area of Filorera and the Sasso Remenno. The first stretch of the circuit, on the left bank of the Masino stream, will be completed as soon as sufficient funding is available. When this ring is complete, the mountain community plans to construct another, which will join the first to the village of San Martino, forming a sort of figure of eight. It goes without saying that the project will be tailored to the special requirements of disabled people: the circuit will be completely protected, cordoned off from any motor traffic; the slope will never exceed 8%; wooden railings will be erected at potentially dangerous places (near streams, for instance). In addition, the track will be surfaced with a special ecological asphalt (a bituminous compound made with Val Masino granite), allowing the trail to blend easily with the surrounding environment. The social services convenor of the mountain community, Giuliano Caroi, expressed satisfaction with the project in a recent interview, emphasising that the construction of a circuit of this kind, especially in the Year of Disabled People, is “a step in the right direction for people obliged to live with a disabilityâ€.
