2002 Dolomite Climbing Trip

Deneen had a business trip to Italy at the end of June so we decided to stretch it into our yearly climbing trip. I shipped the kids off to my folks and flew out to meet her for a week and a half of climbing and exploring NE Italy. I caught up with Deneen in Torino and we checked out the old square, Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello before jumping on a train to Bolzano the next morning. We had a little layover in Verona so we strolled around the little medieval town and took in the old castle and churches before continuing on to Bolzano that night.

Bolzano is kind of the gateway into the Dolomites and we would spend the next week climbing along the road between Bolzano and Cortino d'Ampezzo. This is the south Tirol district and most people speak German first and Italian second. Bolzano reminds me of a 18th century version of Boulder, CO. Just stick an old cathedral on Pearl Street and you get the idea - a pretty little town full of outdoorsy stores surrounded by mountains. We picked up a rental car the next morning headed out of town. After three tries we gave up going the way we wanted and found an alternate way out through the rolling hills. Obviously, driving in Italy was going to be a challenge. We figured out most of the signs but there was a couple that stumped us for the whole trip. We headed into the mountains and quickly learned that 'tornato' meant hairpin turns. Deneen wasn't looking forward to this part especially when the sign would say 17 or 24 or my favorite, 31 Tornato, at the base of the pass. Mix in a bunch of motorcycles, bicycles and tour buses and then take away the guard rails on what are really one way roads with two way traffic and the fun really starts.

We were planning on driving about 100 km to Cortina and then use Cortina as a base camp to drive from but it became obvious that hotels were everywhere and we pulled over to check out the rock at Sella Pass after about 40 km. It was about 6pm but the sun stays out almost til 9 so we grabbed the rope and headed up for a 15 minute walk to the first Sella Tower. It was four pitches of arete climbing up to IV+ (5.6?) and we got up it pretty quick.

Sella Tower: Kev on sumit

The rock is limestone with great holds but the crux was really polished, almost like marble, from the thousands who have climbed this classic since it was put up in 1928. We figured out the descent, got to the car and headed down the pass to Canazei and found a B&B just about dark. The next day we got up and headed east to Falzarego Pass but got hung up waiting on a bike race and finally arrived at the pass around 1 pm. We hiked in about an hour to the base of the arête on Hexenstein. The weather was iffy so we checked out WW1 trenches and bunkers on the pass. Apparently, this had all been part of Austria, and Italy failed to take it during the war but ended up getting it after the war as part of the treaty settlement. The passes in this area were covered in old caves and trenches and via ferrata (cable resupply routes) and it's a fun place to explore. The weather looked OK so we headed up the South Rib, IV+ and 6 pitches up the skyline edge to the summit with the final pitch a handcrack.

Passo Falzarego Hexenstein and church

We had the route to ourselves just like the day before. I think the bike race limited the climbers today. We topped out and met a couple who had come up the via ferrata route. We headed down and straight to a nearby Refugio for some dinner and a bed. What a way to go climbing.

Hexenstein: Deneen on Via Ferrato

The next morning we continued down the pass a little way to Falzarego Tower. The parking lot was full of army vehicles so we figured something might be up. We hiked about an hour in and over shot the climb, ending up about half way up the route instead of at the base. After a lot scrambling we found the start and the Italian Army. There must have been 100 soldiers strung out all over the place. But luckily there was only one party in front of us on our route. It was a couple of guys from the Czech Republic. They bypassed the traditional start of the route (the crux) so I figured they'd be slow but we never saw them again so we ended up climbing by ourselves again. The guide book kept warning us about the crowds but we were doing great, 3 for 3 on classic arête routes. It was a little cool, 50's to 60's, and the weather didn't look great but I couldn't complain, I guess the crowd shows up in August. Anyways, this was again IV+ and about 7 pitches. It starts out face climbing but quickly gets you out to the arête for 4 pitches right on the edge, belays were always entertaining watching the army swarm all over the cliffs to our right. We topped out and I was calling for a rest day. Deneen figured she could climb 10 days straight but I was getting a little frazzled. The routes are all run out, I was getting about 4 pieces per pitch (a piece every thirty feet), granted the routes were easy. My rack consisted of 2 friends, a couple of nuts and 8 slings. Most pitches, I just clipped the fixed stuff (old manky pins in horizontal cracks) or slung horns as I found them, bringing more gear wouldn't have made any difference because there wasn't much natural pro. Belays were usually bomber single pieces like the eyebolts on the Third Flatiron. So we headed for Cortina.

Cortina's a ski town with a touch of old history. We found a nice hotel within walking distance of the main square and settled in for some R&R. We found the local department store and had a fun time shopping, they had everything you could imagine, but in typical 'nothing is the same as the US’, you had to pay for what you want on the floor that it came from. This place had six floors, and my credit card got a work out. We couldn't sit still for a whole day so we drove up to the National Park and checked out Tre Cime. It was kind of a crappy day but the rain held back long enough for us to walk all the way around the massif. Cime Grande and Cime Piccolisimo looked pretty good but the aid roofs on Cime Ovest were awesome. As we headed back to the parking lot, we had to run the gauntlet through the local cows. Deneen was convinced we were going to get gored by the bull until I pointed out "his" udders.

Tre Cime: Deneen & cows

The next day we drove up to Cinque Torre (5 towers).

Cinque Torre

We took the chairlift to save an hour of walking uphill and the chairlift drops you off 5 minutes from the base of the route. We climbed Via Miriam V+ (5.8ish), 5 pitches. The route starts up a dihedral (crux) and then skirts a big roof on a 30 foot hand traverse.

Cinque Torre: Kev leading pitch 1 Via Miriam

The exposure was great on the hand traverse and was well protected. The following pitch (V) was up another dihedral and it was long, I reached the belay with one carabiner left on my rack. We topped out and then got cut off on the descent near some people behind us who didn't summit. The descent was down a rockfall gully so we had to wait for these guys to clear the gully before heading down. This was pretty annoying but we were patient and eventually got down to the base just as the rain started and the chairlift closed down for the day. It was a long slog back to the car in the rain and I fell in the mud on a particularly steep part to boot. The rain let up just as we got to the car so we tossed all the wet shit in the back and motored over to Canazei to dry out.

The last climb of the trip was the fabled Vajolet Towers and we were definitely saving the best for last.

Vajolet Towers

The approach is a little circuitous. We drove to the little town of Pera, found the bus up to Refugio Gardeccia. From there you hike about an hour up to Refugio Vajolet and dump your packs on a little cable car. From there it's a hike/class II scramble up to Refugio Alberto in the saddle below the climb. The best part is the cable car carries the gear up the hill for you. We got to the hut around 3pm and they would serve dinner til 8 so we took off to climb the Stabler Tower in the middle of the three towers (IV+, 4 pitches).The route was pretty fun and the crux was fun turning a little roof but the crack was wet and cold. The views were fantastic and the belays all comfy. We skipped the summit and rapped off after 3 pitches to catch dinner. Another great meal of Italian and German cooking with a WeisBier to wash it down rounded out the night. Deneen was beat and the hut was kind of cold so she disappeared under a mound of blankets for the night. I got a nice long hot shower up here in the middle of nowhere but it cost 5 bucks and then hit the hay.

The next morning was cold and cloudy so we took our time hanging around the hut waiting for the weather to clear. We were close to 9000 feet and there was still snow in spots. Around 10, the weather started to break a little so we headed back up the rock to climb Delagokante on the first tower (IV+, 4 pitches).

Vajolet: Deneen above Rifugio Alberto

I dropped the camera roping up and the top popped off so that's the end of the pictures. The tower is right on the pass so the first pitch begins by stepping out onto the arête and 500 feet of exposure. From there it's 4 pitches to the top and all of them are right on the edge. The second pitch is very exposed – a sharp, vertical knife-edge, studded with holds. The climbing is fun, holds show up right when you need them and the belays were ledges. The clouds would come in and swirl around us and then break for great views and a little time for the sun to warm us up before the clouds would come back in. We topped out in the fog and then 6 raps got us back down. We packed up our gear and tossed our packs on the little cable car and then headed down out of the mountains. We spent that night in Bolzano, the next morning we dropped off the car and took the first train to Venice.

Venice was wall to wall tourists, but we had a great time. We found a place near the Rialto Bridge with a view of a canal, dumped our gear at the station and bought a one day pass for the water bus and explored the city. We checked out the Basilica and the Doge's Palace in Piazzo San Marco, took the water bus across to the church at San Giorgio and rode the elevator to the top of the bell tower. We had dinner and wine over looking a canal while a thunderstorm raged over head and rode the water bus home during a break in the rain. The trip was coming to an end so a train to Milan and our last night in Italy was spent out on the town by the Duomo and the Galleria in the old part of Milan. The next morning we got up early and jumped on a bus to the airport. The only problem was we forgot some checked luggage at the train station (oops!) stored earlier on the trip. It looked desperate at getting back to pick up the luggage and still catching the flight plus the kids were being dropped off at our house so we had to split up. Since Deneen's tickets were in the left luggage, she got the short end of the stick. We loaded her up with cash put her in a taxi and she raced off to the city. I checked in and struggled through an hour of security. When some guy sat down in Deneen's seat on the plane, I knew she wasn't going to make it.

As it turns out Deneen did get back to the airport with a half hour to spare but they had already closed the ticket counter and bumped her to the following day. This was kind of a crappy ending to a really fun trip. 30 pitches and six climbs, no crowds, no waiting and we finished everything we started plus we got to catch Venice as well.