Pulfer Stein

The Pulferstein or Pulverstai – which means ‘dust stone’, as stated on the information panel at the site – is a large boulder situated in a meadow just outside the hamlet of Resiga in Alagna Valsesia. This is evidence of a massive landslide that occurred in 1719, which destroyed the hamlet of Pè d’Otro and claimed several lives.

Inside, a room was created during the last century to be used as a store for explosive powder from the mines; in German, ‘pulver’ means ‘powder’. Today, it serves as the climbing wall for the Alagna Mountain Guides Association.

Both uses of the boulder can be classified as so-called geosystem services or abiotic ecosystem services that the ‘geological world’ can offer to humankind; these are important for human activities and bear witness not only to the geological history but also to the human history of the valley.