Wender·Vista
Lake Sorapis Frozen in Winter
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
high in the Dolomites, above Cortina

Lake Sorapis Frozen in Winter

where the blue waits out the winter.

Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
Above the bench, in a warm oak surround.
Above the bench, in a warm oak surround.
Beside the kettle, propped on the counter.
Beside the kettle, propped on the counter.
Above the linens, in a slim black surround.
Above the linens, in a slim black surround.
On the nightstand, on a light oak stand.
On the nightstand, on a light oak stand.
On a picture ledge, where the light comes in.
On a picture ledge, where the light comes in.
a note from the studio

In summer this is the milky turquoise lake everyone climbs the cables to see. Winter takes the colour away. The basin freezes, snow settles over it, and the famous blue goes quiet under the ice until the melt returns. The trail up from Passo Tre Croci closes to all but ski-tourers, the Vandelli hut shutters, and the Sorapis spires stand over an empty white bowl. This is the lake the photographs never show. The same place, holding its breath.

from the studio
shown in a slim black floating frame · 6 × 6 in
shown in a slim black floating frame · 6 × 6 in
— bring it home

Lake Sorapis Frozen in Winter, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

comes gift-ready
comes gift-ready

Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.

or build a grouping
or build a grouping

Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.

about Lake Sorapis Frozen in Winter

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
the place

Lago di Sorapis sits at 1,925 metres in the Sorapiss massif, in the province of Belluno, about 12 kilometres from Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy's Veneto Dolomites. It lies in a high basin beneath Punta Sorapiss, which rises to 3,205 metres, and is fed by the retreating Sorapis glacier on the slopes above. There is no road in. The lake is reached on foot by CAI Trail 215, which climbs roughly two hours from Passo Tre Croci at 1,805 metres, with narrow, cabled ledges near the top. Rifugio Vandelli, a Club Alpino Italiano hut, stands just above the shore at 1,926 metres.

— informed by Wikipedia, Dolomites Guide
the colour

The summer colour is the lake's signature: a milky turquoise that comes from rock flour, the extremely fine dolomite particles ground out by the glaciers on the Sorapiss massif, three in all and steadily retreating, and carried into the basin by meltwater. The suspended grains scatter the shorter wavelengths of light, so the water reads as turquoise rather than clear. The same mechanism colours Moraine Lake in the Canadian Rockies and Lake Pukaki in New Zealand. In winter the effect switches off. From fall to late spring the lake is frozen and snow-covered, the meltwater that carries the sediment slows, and the blue withdraws until the next melt brings it back.

the season

Winter is the quiet half of the year here. From fall to late spring the lake is frozen and under snow, the cabled ledges on CAI Trail 215 ice over, and Rifugio Vandelli closes, so reaching the basin then is a ski-touring or snowshoe objective with real avalanche exposure rather than a casual walk. Most visitors come in summer, when the path clears, the hut reopens, and the turquoise is at its strongest. Cortina d'Ampezzo, the valley town 12 kilometres below, hosted the Winter Olympics in 1956 and again in 2026. By August the lake can draw down to almost nothing before the autumn refill.

where
Italy · Belluno, Veneto
elevation
1,925 m · 6,316 ft
position
46.5206° N · 12.2233° E
the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
12 km W
Cortina d'Ampezzo
alpine town
6 km N
Lago di Misurina
alpine lake
5 km NW
Passo Tre Croci
mountain pass
13 km NE
Tre Cime di Lavaredo
limestone peaks
14 km W
Cinque Torri
rock towers
N
Lake Sorapis Frozen in Winter
Cortina d'Ampezzo
Lago di Misurina
Passo Tre Croci
Tre Cime di Lavaredo
Cinque Torri
common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Lake Sorapis Frozen in Winter — and about bringing the piece home.
about the place

Lago di Sorapis sits at 1,925 metres in the Sorapiss massif of the Dolomites, in the province of Belluno, about 12 kilometres from Cortina d'Ampezzo in northern Italy's Veneto region. It lies beneath Punta Sorapiss, which reaches 3,205 metres.

The milky turquoise comes from rock flour, extremely fine dolomite particles ground out by the Sorapis glacier and suspended in meltwater. The grains scatter the shorter wavelengths of light, so the water reads turquoise. The same effect colours Moraine Lake in Canada.

In winter the lake freezes and snow covers the basin, so the turquoise is not visible. From fall to late spring the surface is white and still; the colour returns only when the summer melt refills the lake with glacial sediment.

Winter access is for experienced ski-tourers and snowshoers only. CAI Trail 215 from Passo Tre Croci crosses cabled, exposed ledges that ice over, Rifugio Vandelli is closed, and avalanche risk is real. Most visitors go between late June and late September.

The lake is reached only on foot. CAI Trail 215 climbs about two hours from Passo Tre Croci, at 1,805 metres, on the road between Cortina d'Ampezzo and Misurina, with narrow ledges secured by fixed steel cables near the lake.

Lago di Sorapis is fed by glacial meltwater with no large inflow, so its level falls through the season. By August the basin can draw down to almost nothing, then refills in autumn and through the following year's snowmelt.

The lake sits beneath the Sorapiss massif, whose summit, Punta Sorapiss, reaches 3,205 metres. Three glaciers cling to its slopes, all steadily retreating, and their meltwater is what gives the lake its colour and keeps it filled.

about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for people with ties to Cortina d'Ampezzo and the eastern Dolomites, and for anyone who has made the climb to the lake. A Keepsake or Small with a handwritten note from the studio carries the place well.

The frozen palette, cool whites, ice-blue, and the dark Sorapiss rock, settles into alpine-modern, Scandinavian, and quiet minimalist rooms. The winter version reads calmer than the summer turquoise, so it sits well in a bedroom or a study where you want stillness.

Yes. Cool, nature-drawn art is central to both alpine-modern and biophilic interiors, and a frozen Dolomite lake brings a real place into the room. The Medium works as a single quiet anchor; a pair reads well in a mountain-house entry.

Above a sofa, a single Large holds the wall, or a four-tile Mural for more presence. Over a console or a nightstand, the Small or a Keepsake in a stand suits the scale. For a feature wall, a nine-tile Mural.

Yes. Order it in Dura Satin or Matte for any room with moisture or steam, a bathroom, a shower wall, or a kitchen backsplash. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, so humidity does not affect it. The Glossy finish is best kept to dry walls.

A soft microfibre cloth and a little water, nothing more. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface beneath a thin finish, so there is no print layer to wear and no need for sprays or polishes.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original work from our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, in our own stained-glass and alcohol-ink visual language. Nothing is licensed or stock; each place is painted once and made into tiles in-house.

if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.
— a collection

The Italian Dolomites,
painted slow.

The valleys between Cortina and Val Gardena, the tarns you walk an hour to see, the towers that turn the colour of a banked fire just before dark. Wander the collection by valley, by season, or follow the path Reid walked.

Tre Cime
Braies
Misurina
Sorapis
Cinque Torri
Sassolungo
Marmolada