Family and Staff
In 1994, the Cortina section of CAI was looking for the new keeper of the mountain hut and that is how Modesto and Monica decided to submit a tender in response to the invitation to tender. They were successful and so their adventure in this marvellous mountain hut began and their dream came true.
Modesto, after many years as a mountain guide, mountain guide instructor, chief of the Mountain rescue of Cortina d’Ampezzo and owner of a firm, decided to change his life and start a new adventure in the high-altitude mountain hut together with his wife Monica and their 6 children: Sebastiano, Jacopo, Veronica, Carlo, Beatrice and Angelica.
Monica, who is the daughter of Alziro Molin, the famous alpine guide from Auronzo, has lived in Misurina, running a restaurant and a campsite together with her family. As she had a lot of experience in tourism and hospitality, she threw herself into this new adventure with Modesto.
The mountain hut is family run and each member has their clearly defined role. The teamwork allows for the mountain hut to keep the classic tradition of an alpine mountain hut, as well professionalism and hospitality.
Modesto is the keeper of the mountain hut, he knows everything about it, he knows every pipe, every cable and all the peculiarities to get the system functioning smoothly. Furthermore, he dabbles in cooking, mainly at the grill, preparing our tasty main course dishes. In his spare time, he flies his drone, creating stunning aerial videos around the nearby peaks.
Monica is the mainstay of the family, she manages to juggle multiple tasks, including cooking, table service, bar service. However, her main role, in addition to get the mountain hut to work perfectly, and get everyone to be on the same page, is to prepare delicious cakes.
Our ricotta cake is something unique, an apple strudel as good as ours is difficult to find elsewhere, not to mention the Linzertorte. In short, anything she touches, she will make unforgettable!
Sebastiano, the eldest son, is the face of the bar as well as the ‘info point’ of the mountain hut. Whoever needs any information, just asks him. But did you know that our popular flavoured grappas are in fact prepared by Seba? The groups of Germans who hike the Alta Via, have their mouth watering as they arrive, because the grappas of our family are a must. You would want to try them all, but we have got over 50 different flavours and so it would take several days.
Veronica deals with reservations, hospitality, rooms and table service. She lives at the high altitude of the mountain hut when it is open, with her two children, Alberto and Riccardo who bring joy and an extra smile, cheering everyone up during the tough seasonal work.
Beatrice is the life and soul of the kitchen, together with Modesto she prepares the dishes, homemade daily in our brand-new kitchen. Like Veronica, she lives in the mountain hut with her daughter Ludovica, who like her cousins is lucky to be growing up in an unspoilt natural environment.
The tastiest dish made by Beatrice is the Canederli (bread dumplings) trio, served with cabbage and cumin. The goulash is equally delicious, and the soup of the day is ideal to warm you up in the chilly and rainy days.
Jacopo, Carlo and Angelica come to help out whenever it is needed, but their life is down in town!
Staff
Federico has been collaborating with us since 2004, by now we consider him as part of the family. He is a volunteer of the Cortina d’Ampezzo Mountain Rescue, a lover of the ‘mountain hut life’, despite having another job, he is always there for us. In the last few years, he has been waiting on tables, but he equally helps with any other task.
He is always in the Croda da Lago area, for any help call and always available to help anyone who might be in difficulty. Together with Carlo (Alpine guide – Modesto’s son), he has opened a new climbing route on the Becco di Mezzodì, named after Nicola Molin, and has completed the rebolting of the cliff above Lake Federa.
