General Information

Geography - Glaciers and Lakes


The only two glaciers where a glacial mass is still recognizable and not hidden by detrital sediments are the Western glacier on Mt. Sorapis – the most scenic and fascinating of the Ampezzo glaciers - and the one on Mt. Cristallo, which flows onto the  Ampezzo area  only  in its upper part towards Passo del Cristallo,  while the remaining part lies on the Auronzo area.
 
At present, there are ten glaciers or glacier-névés; they are found on Tofana, Cristallo, and Sorapis. Three of them can be classified as classic  cirque glaciers  (Quaire de Fanes, Western and  Southern of Tofana), three are valley glaciers  (Cristallo, Western and Central of  Sorapìs) and four are slope glaciers (Potofana, Eastern of Tofana, Cresta Bianca and Western of Sorapìs). The largest ones are the glaciers on Mt. Sorapis, far larger and thicker than those of Tofana and Cristallo. In 1990, the Western and the Eastern glaciers of Tofana extended over 22 hectares each.

Among high altitude lakes (above 1,900 metres) are the following seven basins: Great and Small Fòses,  Remeda Rossa,  Sorapìs,  Fedèra and Limides; right on the border, but just beyond, there is also the scenic Valparola lake. The largest Ampezzo lakes are found at high altitude: the Federa lake is the largest with 3.47 hectares , the Lake of Sorapis, with 3.08 hectares, and the Lago Gran di Fòses, with 1.62 hectares, follow. However, they are quite small if compared to Misurina and Landro lakes, just a few kilometres from the Ampezzo border, with a surface of over 8 hectares. 
The Park counts also 10 lower altitude lakes, namely: the lakes of Bai de Dònes, Ajal, Pianòze,  Noulù, Ghedina, Lagušìn, Vence,  Tamarìn and the lakes of Rufiédo.  Moreover, the large areas subject to landslides on the slopes of Tofana, Faloria, and Pomagagnon are dotted with myriads of smaller water ponds and wetlands that cannot be all mentioned,  but form a vast articulated “system of stagnant waters” of enormous ecological importance which makes the Ampezzo area unique for its landscape and environmental diversity.