How to reach the primeval larches of Ultimo
The three primeval larches stand at 1,430 metres above sea level near St. Gertraud on the edge of a ban forest that protects the Außerlahnhöfe from avalanches.
The people of Ultimo call an avalanche “Lahn”. They are the last witnesses of the first human settlement, when the back Ulten Valley was still the realm of bears, wolves and lynxes.
Over 2,000 annual rings were counted in the case of a larch tree overturned in 1930. The three survivors – often marked by storm and weather – are considered the oldest conifers in Europe. The entire treetop, which at 36.5 metres is the highest larch (trunk circumference 7 metres), dried up as a result of a lightning strike.
Also the thickest tree with a circumference of 8.34 metres, with the conspicuous tuberous growth (height 34.5 m), has lost its top.
The larch, with its large trunk cavity, on the other hand, burst at a height of six metres generations ago.
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Contact:
Tourist office Ultental valley
St. Walburg 104
39016 Ultimo
+39 0473 795387