+4 | High peaks

 
 
Adventure on the glaciers
Climate and living organisms
Exploration and research
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Exhibits at the top floor of the Museum show the geological and biological elements of the alpine environment. The visitor is accompanied on the peaks and conquered with live sensations usually only experienced at high altitudes. Level +4 is where the multisensorial tour of MUSE begins. The full immersion in mountain atmosphere is immediate. Entering in the great "Glacial experience" tunnel, a multi-visual 10-meter long space, you will find yourself flying above the Alps.

Between noises and impression of a live, evolving landscape, the visitor goes from a breathtaking glide on alpine and dolomitic peaks, on glaciers and forests, to diving along the most extreme sides, to finally flank the majestic and terrible experience of avalanches.

Glacier
A reconstruction of a glaciered environment allows to identify the elements characterizing glacier dynamics. Moraines, alpine prairies, crevasses, erratic stones and ice mushrooms on the surface of a real glaciers you will be able to touch and feel.
 
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The exhibits are enhanced with images, videos and tales of moments of glaciological research and the are many things to stimulate your curiosity: from the interactive mechanical instruments that reveal the symmetry of a crystal of snow, to the cosmic ray detector that shows the shower of particles coming from space which at any time is falling on us. Like a trip back in time, the museum also offers a reconstruction of our past climate. To this end, MUSE will be the only museum to exhibit part of an ice core extracted by Italian researchers in Antarctica.

A multimedia system provides visitors the chance to see what are the main organisms able to live and carry out their entire life cycle on the edge and on the surface of a glacier. There will be the opportunity to observe insects and spiders moving over a glacier and - tapping your finger on one of these - to access tabs providing interesting facts related to the living conditions of these animals.

A thematic table shows the visitor how the biodiversity of high altitude environments is composed of organisms which have adapted to live in such extreme conditions. By magnifying model species of insects to twenty times their original size, you will have the opportunity to observe the adaptations they have to survive in extremely windy and cold environments with intense ultraviolet radiation. Alongside each display you will also have the chance to observe the real insect.
 
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Exploration and research
High altitudes have always fascinated travellers and explorers, drawing them to the peaks and glaciers and driving the most passionate adventurers on to the most extreme feats, for which many have received major awards and accolades. Travellers and explorers were the first to come into contact with the world's harsh environmental conditions, which are at the same time fascinating and mysterious, inaccessible to most people and yet in constant contact with humans and with other ecosystems on the planet.

Curiosity, passion, the desire to discover, and the adventurous spirit are still pushing men and women to conquer the highest peaks. At the end of the exhibition there is no shortage of interesting references to those explorers who were the first to face the unknown Alpine valleys and to reach the summits of unexplored mountains: you can find short films telling the stories of “historic climbers”, as well as about the mountain equipment once used, like old crampons, ice axes, hemp ropes and pitons.
 
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