Cortina has attracted many distinguished guests, often inspiring them in their creative work. They include the Italian novelists Dino Buzzati (1906-1972), author of The Tartar Steppe, Goffredo Parise (1929-1986) and Fernanda Pivano (1917-2009). Ernest Hemingway, author of A Farewell to Arms, also arrived in the area in 1918 as a young ambulance driver. Other notable visitors include John Ball (1818-1889), the Irish mountaineer and naturalist who climbed Monte Pelmo in 1857, the Italian mountaineers Emilio Comici (1901-1940), Angelo Dibona (1879-1956) and Lino Lacedelli (1925-2009), the Italian skier Kristian Ghedina (born 1969), the Italian bobsledder Eugenio Monti (1928-2003), the Austrian mountaineer Paul Grohmann (1838-1908) and the Austrian skier Toni Sailer (1935-2009). Frequent visitors include the Italian businessman and former racing driver Paolo Barilla (born 1961) and the journalist and writer Indro Montanelli (1909-2001).