(wind whooshing) (wind howling) (Bennett panting) (snow pattering) (footsteps crunching) (door clicking and creaking) (door banging) (door clicking) (gentle symphony music) - [Sharon] There's a place in the mountains of Italy, a sacred place so connected to the mountains that some say even setting foot there blurs the line between mountain and men.

Or in our case, women.

Our story begins long ago.

The year was 1900, or 1910, or maybe even 1920.

These things don't happen overnight.

You get the idea.

(water spattering) Times were hard.

There were no jobs in the Val di Non, and families were faced with a difficult decision.

Thousands of brave immigrants said goodbye to their families and boarded ships bound for a place they called the United States of America.

(seagull cawing) In search of their American dream, they arrived in Wyoming.

(birds chirping) (bird screeching) No, not that part of Wyoming.

This part.

(rattlesnake rattling) Not exactly paradise.

But to many of these immigrants, there was something more important, an opportunity to work, make a family, and build a new life.

(train rumbling) (bell dinging) They worked for generations underground in the mines.

(cart thudding) (grass rustling) They built families and raised their American children, (children cheering) who went on to have families of their own.

(children chattering) Over time, their connection to the homeland began to fade.

(water gurgling) Until one day, the descendant of one of these brave Italians decided it was time to return.

(gentle music continues) (rocks clattering) Bennett, daughter of Tony, granddaughter of Gary, great-granddaughter of Silvio, great-great-granddaughter of Giovanni of the Val di Non in Tregiovo, Italy.

Bennett wasn't your average fifth-generation Italian-American kid.

She spent her days climbing the desert peaks of Southwestern Wyoming.

- Whoa.

- With her climbing partner, Grandpa Gary.

Climbing mountains was her way of learning about the world and herself.

So, when she found out that her ancestors were from the Dolomites of Italy, it only made sense that she needed to go to the place where she was from and climb a mountain to learn about who she was.

(upbeat Italian music) (Bennett giggling) - (sniffles) Ooh, that's crazy.

- [Aunt Carrie] It's not the lightest thing I've ever seen, but.

- [Mark] What do you think's gonna be in this one?

- I wonder what the green stuff is on there.

- Is that all?

- [Bennett] Poop, yeah.

- [Grandpa Gary] Oh, okay.

- [Bennett] Think the cows really enjoy it here.

(upbeat Italian music continues) - Yeah.

- You coming?

Is this the top, or is that the top over there?

Ooh.

Yeah, I need a little help.

Whoo.

- [Mark] You got her?

- Yup.

(Bennett laughing) - [Grandpa Gary] Hello.

- [Bennett] It fits perfectly on you.

- (laughing) Look nice on me?

Yeah?

- Uh huh.

Hey.

(wind whooshing) (Bennett panting) Come on, bring the sled up here.

(tool clanking) (Bennett sniffling) (Bennett squealing) Ah.

(sled thudding) (sled whooshing) - [Mark] How was that, Bennett?

(Bennett laughing) - [Aunt Carrie] Are you okay?

- A little help here.

(Mark laughing) (Bennett coughing) (snow crunching) - Look, my grandpa came over from Italy to work in the mines, Bennett.

How'd you like to go to work in a mine every day?

- Mm-mm.

- No?

(chuckling) Yeah.

When you get down underneath there, the seam's only that high.

- (panting) Back to the truck.

(Bennett panting) (lighthearted music) - [Man] When men were first drawn to Everest, it was an unknown quantity.

- [Sharon] Not only was Grandpa Gary Bennett's climbing partner, but he was also the link to Italy because his grandpa was actually born in the mountains she wanted to climb.

(lighthearted music continues) So training began, and Bennett assembled her team.

Aunt Carrie, documentarian, Uncle Mark, mountaineer, and Grandpa Gary.

- By golly.

(Grandpa Gary laughing) - [Aunt Carrie] One, two, three, mountain dogs.

- [Man] The climber climbs with his guts, his brains, his soul, and his feet, All of them bound for a cold, white world.

- Come on.

- [Man] A world that is all up and up.

(snow crunching) (tools thudding) (hands thumping) - [Mark] All right.

Good job.

(bodies whooshing) (phone app speaking in Italian) (phone beeping) (Bennett speaking in Italian) (upbeat soft rock music) - [Sharon] After a winter of training, the Italian-Americans set out to climb the mountain of their ancestors.

- Good job.

Thank you.

- I wonder if planes have horns.

♪ Now I love my own ♪ ♪ When I walk into my way ♪ - [Mark] Your first step in Italy, Bennett.

All right, this way, Bennett.

- [Bennett] Can we stay here for a while?

♪ It's the day I had a fall ♪ ♪ That it's me that I'm enough ♪ ♪ Then again, said good men come with me ♪ (Bennett chuckling) (Grandpa Gary chuckling) - The work of the sculptor Stefano Zuech was erected in 1932 in memory of the many miners of Brez, who worked in the mines in America.

- [Mark] So, one of those miners was your great-grandpa.

- And it's supposed to look like him?

- [Mark] I guess.

- It's amazing.

(car rumbling) - [Aunt Carrie] We are.

- We are in a different place now.

(birds chirping) (woman speaking in Italian) (Mark speaking in Italian) (woman speaking in Italian) - All right, this is great.

- Hi.

- Ciao.

(woman speaking in Italian) - [Grandpa Gary] Nice to meet you.

- How's it going, good?

- Fine, fine.

- First time in Tregiovo?

Are you excited?

- First time in Italy.

- Are you excited?

- Very excited.

- You look like my grandfather more or less.

- Oh, really?

- You're really similar, yeah.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- Okay, Pedri.

- Pedri, yeah, the same nose.

(laughing) Yeah, exactly.

- [Grandpa Gary] Your grandpa's Paolo then?

- [Lorenzo] Yeah.

- [Grandpa Gary] Which is my dad's cousin.

- Exactly.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

(Lorenzo speaking in Italian) Yes, si, si.

- Gary.

- Gary.

- [Grandpa Gary] Nice to meet you, Paolo.

(lively Italian music) - Aunt Carrie.

Oh, Carrie grazie.

Thank you very much.

Grazie, cara.

- [Mark] Oh, great.

(people speaking in Italian) (woman speaking in Italian) - Yum.

(lid clicking) - Ah.

(cork popping) - Oh.

- Oh.

(people chattering in Italian) - [Woman] Thank you.

- [Grandpa Gary] Thank you.

- [Girl] This is for you.

- I love it.

(people chattering) (silverware clattering) - [Mark] It's hot.

- Mm hm.

But good.

It's yummy.

(people chattering continues) - [Woman] Do you like it?

Do you want some cheese?

- See, come on.

(woman speaking in Italian) - [Grandpa Gary] Okay.

- This is your grandad Giovanni.

(people chattering in Italian) (footsteps thudding) So, this is the crib, yeah.

- Wow.

(Paolo speaking in Italian) - [Lorenzo] When Giovanni left, when he was 14, Giovanni said to his mother, "Okay, we will never see again."

And she died without seeing him again.

And he left.

- [Grandpa Gary] Well, why did he leave so young?

(Lorenzo speaking in Italian) - Here like a century year ago.

(Paolo speaking in Italian) People were very, very poor here.

And so, they were immigrating to United States for searching, like, lack for work job.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Like I think that half of the population in Tregiovo immigrated into United States in Rock Spring in the coal mine.

- [Sharon] Meanwhile, Bennett was finding her own way to connect with the family.

She met a cousin who told her about a castle overlooking the valley where she could learn about hiking Italian style.

(playful Italian music) (birds chirping) (water gurgling) At first, with no common language, it was hard to communicate.

- Tough go.

- [Sharon] But then, as if no time had passed since their families were separated more than 100 years prior, they became best cousin friends.

(hands slapping) - 18, 19, 20.

Ready or not, here I come.

Found you.

I don't know.

Found you.

(Aunt Carrie laughing) - I thought I had a good spot.

- You were, you did.

You won.

- I won?

- Yeah.

- [Aunt Carrie] Ah ha.

- Thank you.

Grazie.

- Prego.

(people chattering) (playful Italian music continues) - One.

(camera clicking) (Bennett laughing) - [Grandpa Gary] All right.

(birds chirping) - [Sharon] The mountain of our ancestors loomed in the distance.

Their family warned them to watch out for southern weather changes and gifted Bennett a special mountain jacket for the climb.

- This is nice for the wind, for the cold.

(light switch clicking) (water gurgling) (man speaking in Italian) (people chattering in Italian) - Nice seeing you again.

- Ah, you too.

- Grazie.

(Bennett speaking in Italian) (wind whooshing) - [Sharon] Bennett was ready to face the mountain she had traveled from Wyoming to climb.

Her goal, the mighty Dolomiti di Brenta.

- Which mountain are we climbing?

- [Mark] That really big one behind you in the clouds.

- Oh.

(birds chirping continues) But we're starting over here?

- [Mark] Yep.

- Really?

(lively Italian music) - And this is where my path crossed with Bennett's.

Hello.

- Hi.

- Hi.

- Hey.

- Nice to meet you.

Are you ready?

- Yes.

Hi.

- Ciao.

Sharon, Gary.

- Hi.

(Aunt Carrie and Bennett laughing) You might be wondering who I am and why I'm telling this story.

Well, I signed onto this expedition because I remember being just like Bennett, and I know how important climbing these mountains can be for a young girl because I grew up here.

And when I met Grandpa Gary, I knew they would need a local to get them out the mountain.

Look at that.

(lively Italian music) Oh, Bennett.

But in Italian, (speaking in Italian) is ant.

So, that's where formic acid comes from.

(water whooshing) - [Bennett] That way.

I wonder if somebody's been saved by a flower, like holding onto it.

- [Sharon] Definitely not.

- [Bennett] I wonder where snails that live here find their shell.

- [Sharon] They grow with it.

- [Bennett] I wonder what having an animal's brain would be like.

- [Sharon] Oh, we can't have an animal brain.

Humans are kind of like animals.

- [Bennett] Yeah.

- Do you see it?

Do you like frogs?

- [Bennett] Yeah.

- [Sharon] Get it.

Yeah.

Nice.

We are doing good, guys.

- Is there any shortcut, just up?

That's the top.

We're not at the top.

- [Sharon] Careful here, eh?

All right.

- [Bennett] You're a goner if you fall off that.

First, you would probably crack your head open and break a few bones.

Next, you would fall into the stream and get swept down and dirt.

You would hit lots of rocks and tree branches your way down.

- Did you wanna sit for a minute?

- [Bennett] Yes, please.

- My goodness.

Not to bring bad news, but now it gets steep.

- [Bennett] I see it.

I see it.

Yeah, it's up here.

I see it.

He's here.

He's coming, slow but steady.

You got this.

- Holy cow.

Second base camp.

- [Bennett] Woo.

- [Aunt Carrie] This is your new home.

You never have to leave.

- [Grandpa Gary] Uh, yeah.

What a good feeling.

(people chattering) - Yum.

Mm, good.

- But what happens is you clip one in.

You clip the second in, slide, unclip, slide to the next thing.

Slide, and then you have to do maybe something like this.

See this guy?

That's also a part of it.

Clip into.

- Holy cow.

- Yeah.

- But also this one might be like right on the edge over there.

So, you might have to go way further in to do this part 'cause obviously we don't have a weather window that is that big, but if if we do, that's the part.

Otherwise it's a little bit dangerous.

'Cause in the mountains you always have to plan for the weather 'cause the weather changes really, really fast.

- [Bennett] Yeah.

- Yeah, so.

Do you remember what the first rule of mountaineering is?

- Don't look down.

- Exactly.

And look only where?

- In front of you.

- Yeah.

So, if you do that, then you don't fall.

- [Mark] All right, you ready for a big day tomorrow?

- [Bennett] Yep.

- [Mark] Okay.

- Good night.

- [Mark] Good night.

(sheet whooshing) (wind howling) - [Bennett] Do I need a coat?

- [Aunt Carrie] Um, yes, you need a coat.

- [Bennett] It got cold all of the sudden.

- [Aunt Carrie] Yeah, do you think your feet are gonna be okay?

(gentle inspirational music) - [Sharon] On the morning of our summit attempt, something was happening.

Bennett wasn't just climbing another mountain.

She was growing up, finding herself and her own path in the Dolomites of Italy.

Grandpa Gary kept up, but deep down he knew it wouldn't be long before Bennett would be climbing higher than he could go.

They wouldn't be on the same mountain together forever, but in this moment, they were.

(gentle inspirational music ends) (wind howling) (upbeat symphony music) Bennett and Grandpa Gary had trained so hard back in Wyoming, and now it was time to put it to the test.

(equipment clattering) (steps crunching) - [Mark] How you doin' Bennett?

- [Bennett] Good.

- Do you wanna lead?

- [Bennett] Yeah.

- Okay.

(upbeat symphony music continues) - [Bennett] Go under that rock.

- [Mark] You okay?

- I got it.

(upbeat symphony music ends) (wind howling) (thunder rumbling) - Whoa.

- Yeah.

(person thudding) There's lightning.

(thunder rumbling) (rain pattering) - [Mark] Go dry off.

- [Sharon] Our only chance to climb the mountain was if the storm passed before the sun went down.

The summit clock was ticking.

(people chattering) (rain pattering) (items smacking) - This.

Here we go.

Oh, wait, wait, wait.

- Soccer.

- [Aunt Carrie] Ah, no, no, no.

- Ronaldo.

- Good job.

Very nice.

- Wow.

How did you know that?

- I knew he was a soccer player, and I recently looked at the deck.

- [Aunt Carrie] Oh, you studied the deck.

Rapunzel?

- Yeah.

(Aunt Carrie laughing) - [Aunt Carrie] That was fast.

(rain pattering) (thunder rumbling) (people chattering) (swing clicking) - There's a few other website that would say that those storms will actually come in, so.

The mountain always has the final word on an expedition.

- [Aunt Carrie] Hey, Bennett, we all really wanted to make it to the top, but you just, you can't control the mountain.

- [Sharon] But there is more to a mountain than the summit.

We had one more option.

A Via Ferrata traverse to a ledge that overlooked the whole valley.

- This way.

(lively Italian music) - [Sharon] With a new storm approaching, there could be no mistakes.

(hand tapping) - [Bennett] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

- [Mark] You okay, Bennett?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

(lively Italian music) (equipment clanking) (equipment clanking) - There's kind of a calm.

There's just a nice slow not steep hill over here.

Perfectly safe.

(Grandpa Gary sighing) (equipment clanking) (lively Italian music continues) - [Grandpa Gary] You lead the way.

You have the light.

(water spattering) Oh, good job.

- Whoa.

- Careful.

Oh, my golly.

Woo hoo.

- Wow.

- We made it.

Via Ferrata.

- Yeah.

(Grandpa Gary laughing) Hey, hey, hey.

Woo hoo.

- Oh, thank you.

These are like almost like a tradition here.

Everybody in my family always have one of these.

Usually you have to get green sticks.

So, they have to be very fresh.

So, not the dry ones 'cause it doesn't work with the dry ones.

Then you get a stick, right?

Now, when you get this, this is the stem, right, of the flower.

And you start doing this.

And you do this, and then you make this longer, and then you have an open star.

Passed time when we were out in the mountains.

All right, my lady.

Are you gonna keep climbing when you are back in Wyoming, you think?

- Yeah.

- And hiking even more?

- Uh huh.

- Good.

- Do you wanna come to Wyoming sometime?

- Oh, of course, I would love to come to Wyoming.

Yeah, so we can do some more fun adventures.

- Yeah.

- Sounds good.

All right, see you in Wyoming.

- Okay.

(Sharon laughing) (hands slapping) - And then I'm actually not running, and I'm not hiking.

I'm just gonna fly down.

(clip clicking) (Bennett laughing) And I run off right here.

Yeah, hopefully I'll see you in Wyoming.

(lighthearted music) It's gonna be easier than here.

(parachute whooshing) - Oh, boy, good luck, Sharon.

Good luck.

♪ Searching a life ♪ ♪ You're a dreamer ♪ ♪ Kissin' the sky ♪ - [Sharon] When I first met Bennett, I saw myself, someone at the beginning of a great adventure.

Someone who wanted to see the world and discovered pieces of herself far away from home.

A brave mountaineer with a lifetime of mountains still in front of her.

Even though she has a pretty solid team with her now, eventually she'll go alone, and when she does, I have a feeling she'll fly.

This is where I leave the rest of the story for Bennett to tell.

- I went to Italy to climb a mountain peak, but I learned that the peak wasn't the most important part.

It's the dreams you have, the things you learn, and the people you meet along the way, like Sharon and Aunt Carrie and Uncle Mark.

(Mark speaking in Italian) And our camerawoman Margerita.

And the dog from the refugio.

And my new cousins in Tregiovo.

Oh yeah, and Grandpa Gary.

Climbing mountains is a part of who I am.

I'm not sure if it's from my Wyoming side or the Italian side, but I know it's a part of me.

Even though my great-great-grandpa left Italy 100 years ago, I'm glad I went back.

Actually, I think I'll go back again.

There's still a lot of mountains left to climb there, and maybe even a few to fly off of.

Remember, don't look down.

Ciao.

♪ We're kissin' the wind ♪ ♪ Goin' higher than the sun ♪ ♪ No one's takin' it back ♪ ♪ And it's only just begun ♪ ♪ We're kissin' the wind ♪ ♪ Comin' on time ♪ ♪ Comin' on time again ♪