I’ve been working in the Dolomites recently which has been great fun, it’s somewhere I’ve not visited for a long time and it’s somewhere I’ve wanted to get back to. I’ve been able to use a few days off to climb some via ferrata in the area while based around Cortina d’Ampezzo.
To start off I rode the bus up from Cortina and headed for the Rifugio Lagazuoi which sits on top of some tunnels from World War 1. The tunnels were excavated when the Italians tried to dislodge the Austrian troops from the pre-summit of the mountain. They’re in the cicerone guidebook as a via ferrata but it’s non-technical, as it’s in the dark and underground it’s definitely required to wear a helmet and have a torch but a harness etc isn’t really required.
That’s actually Averau and it’s the peak I’m going to climb the next day, so more of that below.
Finishing the tunnels I headed around the mountain to the col dei Bos grabbing this shot of the WW1 hospital on the way, it’s the classic guidebook image of course.
The nex line is altogether more serious. A real and long via ferrata at over 400m taking a direct line up an impressive cliff. Some of the hardest climbing is right at the start with the the bulk of it being fairly straightforward. Nevertheless, it’s a really long route and not to be undertaken lightly.
Just near the top I met up with a group of Germans also climbing the route. I notice one of them is carrying a loop of rope on his harness which is probably a good idea. It’s hard to say how much you ought to carry though, if you’re planning to drop a rope to a partner to help with a difficulty a short length is probably fine but if you’re anticipating a full on escape from the route then really nothing less than a full rope is good enough.
The next day I headed to the other side of the pass to climb Averau which is a short via ferrata with a walk and scramble onto the summit. I bumped into an English couple climbing it as an intro’ to via ferrata for which it’s an ideal route. They were skilled and experienced climbers so this short route was just a chance to get used to the equipment and no doubt they went on to climb a few more serious routes.
It’s a classic Dolomites summit, bare rock and very little vegetation. There’s great views over the area and I enjoy a sandwich looking over the areas I’m here to work in.
