Altitude in the Dolomites

The towns in that area of the Dolomites (Ortisei, Santa Cristina, Selva/Wolkenstein) are
in the 4000'-4500' elevation level. If you are OK in Denver, you'll be OK in that part
of the Dolomites.

You can check online for the altitude of any of the towns you want to visit. The Zugspitze summit is just a bit under 10,000 feet, so it's little wonder that seniors unused to altitudes would find themselves short of breath. But Ortesei is only 4000 feet, so unless you have a serious cardiovascular or respiratory condition, that shouldn't preclude a visit there.

Seceda a calm mountain top up from Ortisei with amazing views of the Dolomites is at 8200 feet. Zugspitze is at 9200. All you can do is go up and come back down if you can't breath or avoid it. I am mid 50's and very active lived in Chicago at sea level all my life. I spent about an hour on top of Mont Blanc one of the highest peeks in Europe at 16000 feet with no breathing problems, yet I have a rescue inhaler for seasonal asthma triggers.

I was a little concerned about the altitude in the Dolomites before my trip last year because I had previously fest mild affects on visits to Mexico City and to Snowmas Village Colorado, for example. In contra I felt no altitude affect at all in Ortisei or on places the various lifts took me. As others have noted, the Dolmites are not that high.

I live in Denver and have all of our sea level guests take it easy on the first full day after arrival and make sure they drink a ton of water. If we take them to the mountains above Denver, I usually wait until second day for that and, again, have them take it easy on that first full day as well.

As long as you do not plan on doing a major hike right away, you should be fine in Ortisei.