[Fultonius]

2 weeks to go and I need some suggestions!

Firstly, we're heading out for 2 weeks. First week just me & Neil, second a few more. We have accom booked for the second week but nothing for the first.

Camping is one option, but a friend suggested just staying in huts the entire week. Is this feasible? Or, should we take minimal camp gear for the odd day we'll be down in't valley?

Suggestions of good routes HVS - E2 would be awesome!

Can't wait, but wish I'd done more endurance training this year...

[slackline]

Huts can be expensive, getting a BMC hut card would likely pay for itself if stopping more than three nights.

Messner Route (VI) on the second Sella Tower looked amazing. 

Had hoped to do the Tissi Route/South Face Direct (VI-) on Torre Venezia, but were a bit late starting and did the South-West Arete instead which was brilliant (but only V+ so borderline on grade range).

Paul B might have some suggestions

[Fultonius]

I've an member of the Austrian Alpine Club, so should get a pretty decent discount through that.  When you say expensive, how much? My flatmate thought about €30/night without discount but not sure. I would have thought we'll go up and spend a couple of nights in the Drei Zinnen area and maybe hit the Sella too.

Just rying to decide if we're going to be able to fits tents and climbing gear...

[slackline]

We stopped for two nights at the Rifugio Mario Vazzoler in the Civetta and I  think without cards it was around €50/nights (I'd recommend not trying any Gentiana aperitif if offered though, its fucking disgusting).

For the Sella there's a campsite in Canazi, although we stayed at the (quite expensive at ~€11/night) one in Campitello di Fassa, as the former looked quite cramped.  Although theres the hut (with cable car from the Sella Pass) at the base of Sassolungo group, and one right on the Sella Pass itself (Alpine Club guide indicates booking is essential for this one).

[Will Hunt]

What's the word with camping? We're trying to run our trip to a reasonable cost so probably not staying in huts with the possible exception of a night or two. I've heard wild camping is a no no and if found then you'll be moved on. I was wondering what the costs of normal campsites around Cortina would be? I've seen a couple advertised online but these are all the kind of place that have a gym and sauna attached. All we need is a hole to poo is and a tap to get water from and reasonably flat ground. With this in mind, is it like Wales where you see a hastily scrawled sign saying "Campingio" every 500m down a country road where you can pitch a tent for a few quid a night or is it like Cornwall where EVERYWHERE seems to be full at peak times and spaces come at a premium.

Cheers

[Paul B]

The campsites that were open when we were there recently were the more expensive type and were costing 20-23E a night for the two us, car and tent. This wasn't peak period and thus those aren't peak costs!

The one near the marmolada previously suggested looked a bit more basic but still very nice. The one before the toll for Tre Cime looked like a ghetto.

[slackline]

With this in mind, is it like Wales where you see a hastily scrawled sign saying "Campingio" every 500m down a country road where you can pitch a tent for a few quid a night or is it like Cornwall where EVERYWHERE seems to be full at peak times and spaces come at a premium.

I'd expect the later.  There are three sites outside of Cortina, two opposite each other.  The one we stayed at (Rochetta I think) was pretty busy and not massively cheap (albeit cheaper than Campitello).

[Bubba]

Archies which I reckon is the best resource for finding campsites shows 3 campsites in Cortina and one a little to the north of the town.

- Camping Rochetta
- Another one opposite Rochetta which I can't find a website for
- Camping Dolomiti

And this one is 3.5km north of Cortina:
- Camping Olympia

[slackline]

The one opposite Rochetta is Camping Cortina....


Camping Cortina by slack---line, on Flickr

[Paul B]

Take a mallet if you want to stay at camping Marmolada in Canazei (which is actually not that close to the Marmolada south face).

TBH I think your climbing plans will dictate where you stay, if you're over in Canazei and want to climb near Tre Cime then you'll lose a LOT of time driving, the same applies if you camp near Tre Cime.

[slackline]

Oh yes, as for costs I think it was around €9/person/night at Rochetta.  In fact no need to rely on my crap memory, the prices for Rochetta (I'd imagine Cortina being in direct competition will be very similar).

I realise your looking to do a cheap budget holiday (as were we, otherwise we'd have rented an appartment or stayed in huts more), but fuck it, you're on holiday and going to have a great time, why worry over a few fuck-alls (just have one less beer each night, although at €0.80 for 660ml bottles they won't break the bank, but they weren't bought from the campsite!).

Agree with Paul B about the campsite outside Misurina (where the road to Tre Cime branches off), we looked at it for the last night, but quickly turned round and went back to Rochetta.

[iain]

Archies which I reckon is the best resource for finding campsites shows 3 campsites in Cortina and one a little to the north of the town.

- Camping Rochetta
- Another one opposite Rochetta which I can't find a website for
- Camping Dolomiti

And this one is 3.5km north of Cortina:
- Camping Olympia

We were picky and stayed in 3 of the 4 over the time we were there, although we were in the van so had to pack up most days anyway.

Camping Olympia - stayed 1 night. Tree covered, almost no grass and just not that nice an atmosphere. It is over the river from an old airfield lots of folk use as a motorhome stopover. We stayed there a couple of nights and although police came round they didn't seem bothered. Saw no tents though and it wasn't high season.
Camping Rocchetta - Nice, busy and a little noisy. Owners friendly and a decent, if expensive, little shop to save the odd trek into town.
Campeggio Dolomiti - Open field with a great view (when it wasn't raining.) Our favourite but then we are middle aged.

Olympia was cheapest but not worth it for us, from what I can remember the other two were roughly the same.

Can highly recommend eating

[Fultonius]

We're arriving tomorrow in Venice at about 11:45, grabbing a car and heading towards Cortina. Should be there about 2/2:30 PM.

Not exactly sure where we're going to camp etc., but the forecast is looking good so we're onsidering trying to grab a short route in the afternoon.

Any thoughts of something around E1 <100m but not single pitch sport (last resort) that isn;t too far from Cortina?

Also, or supermarkets open late and do they close on a Sunday?

Cheers.

[Paul B]

Cinque Torri would probably be the best bet although I didn't rate it.

[slackline]

We're arriving tomorrow in Venice at about 11:45, grabbing a car and heading towards Cortina. Should be there about 2/2:30 PM.

Not exactly sure where we're going to camp etc., but the forecast is looking good so we're onsidering trying to grab a short route in the afternoon.

Any thoughts of something around E1 <100m but not single pitch sport (last resort) that isn;t too far from Cortina?

Also, or supermarkets open late and do they close on a Sunday?

Cheers.

Some easy routes at Misurina could get you started, you'll pass a supermarket on the way there too.  Can't remember if they were open Sundays, but pretty sure they didn't stay open that late.  The co-operative in town (pedestrian area) closed in the middle of the day though.

If you go to Cinqui Torri the big corner that looks like Cenotaph on steroids looked good (no guide to hand I'm afraid), but didn't actually do it ourselves.  Getting a chair lift up would save you time too.

[leeroy]

very good 4 pitch e2 on the cinque torri called via finlandia. we did that on the evening of our arrival. theres only one pitch of e2 and i remember it felt ok when i wasnt solid at that grade.

[Fultonius]

Nice - I spotted another one starting with F, Frenchesci and thought it was the same one. Fortunately not as my partner has done it before!

Sweet. Don't mind starting the trip on a slightly less amazing crag...build the quality as the week goes on!

[Fultonius]

Well, the Dolomites were everything I expected, and more!

Thanks for all the tips and advice. In the end we went straight to Canazei and spent most of the first week in that area, camping at the campsite about 3km down the road from Canazei. Didn't get anything done on the travel day, but got up early and did the Steger route on the Catinaccio.

Possibly not the best introduction to the Dollies being on average rock and with a lot of uninteresting climbing, but the second last pitch was nice and exposed, with airy, delicate climbing. The general friability gave me the willies a bit, but it climbed mainly on the pale yellow/white rock which I hadn't realised at the time is the less solid variety!!

Day 2 we did the Messner on the Second Sella Tower - very nice and worth doing. Not polished and good, interesting climbing. Got hammered by an almighty thunderstorm on the walk out. I can recommend the East face descent rather than the gully - mainly easy scrambling on solid rock rather than a loose-gully abseil!

Day off, Pizza, Beer.

Next up was Via Irma on the Piz Ciavazes, technically the hardest route of the week at VII- but in reality the crux was fairly obvious, sustained corner work with lots of (presumably drilled) pigs. Nice pitch.

Last route of week one was over towards Cortina to the Rifugio Dibona at the Tofanes di Rozes (expensive but nice food - €60/pp for DBB and 2 beers). Spent a day getting up Pllar Rib with a topping of cloud (shorts bad idea!). Another good route, mainly solid (dark!) rock and an interesting line.

A few days off with the Lady - did the Lagazuoi Tunnels which were pretty cool with historical interest, soloed the Sci_Club 18 via feratta in about 25 minutes and ate!

Good weather forecast and renewed psyche saw us staring at the first pitches of the Vinatzer/Messner link on the south face of the Marmolada - time for the big one!

Up to the ledge went fine, lots, and lots of varied climbing. Crux 1 was pumpy for 7am!

After that the line became less clear and the topo in the Alpine Club Guide has poorly positioned tags which makes the messner and the neighbouring route appear switched....

Hmm.....   Crux 2 was very memorable - VI/F6a up a very exposed and unobvious line. Bold, delicate and constantly terrifying, 500m of air below the feet.  Another routefinding error left us too far right at what had originally looked like a good belay. Too good. 6 pegs, loads of tat, screwgate and snaplink in situ and very steep ground above. Oh ooooo!

Diagonal abseil left gets us back on the true line, Neil got the 3rd crux (soooo glad of that one, I was mentally spent and on the verge of meltdown...) and we made it to the top. All pitches led clean, 11 hours....just longer than the 10 hours we'd planned to the get the cable car. Oh well - not too bad a walk down....

So. That was that. Here's some things we found:

Guidebooks

1. Dolomites Classic Climbs - on the whole, not too bad. Mistakes we found were - out of date info (phone numbers, descent from PICCOLO LAGAZUOI). incorrect/poor topos (Pillar Rib - sent us too far right at about pitch 5. Some route lengths totally wrong (like 130m wrong). Didn't use it on the marmolada.

2. Alpine Club Guide. Photo daigrams poor, but generally the written descriptions ok. Vinatzer on the Marmolda description ok, but the Messner finish was pretty poorly described. Tops/descriptions for the Picollo Lagazuoi were abominable in all guides! Not sure how such an easily accessible crag can be so poorly described....

3. Versant Sud - not much to go on, but we used the topo from this for the Vinatzer/Messner but it was in italian so didn;t have the wordy bits. Looks good, probably what I'd go with in future.

Camping

Not cheap, anywhere!  Cortina had better facilities (Campegio dolomiti), but the site out the South West of Canazei was fine. ( next village down, forgotten the name)

Food

Also not cheap, supermarkets much of a muchness. Plenty good wine to be had at €3!

Eating out in Canazei was cheaper than Cortina (quite a lot - €7/pizza vs €12/pizza).

Huts are expensive.

The forecast that the tourist information in Canazei/Cortina use seemed moderately accurate. Much better than yr.no!  Usefull having the % chance of thunderstorms etc.

All in, once I got used to the style of the climbing (i.e. mostly 3 solid opints of contact!) quite liked the place and the length of the routes were awesome. Pics later.

[SA Chris]

Sounds like a good trip Ali. Any comment on the ethics of using porcine livestock to protect a route?

the crux was fairly obvious, sustained corner work with lots of (presumably drilled) pigs. Nice pitch.

[Fultonius]

Drilled pigs are a local peculiarity, somewhat like porchetta and proscuitto. Got to be careful though - they can give you a bad case of mid-route indigestion..... buuuuurp!

They also leave your karabiners all greasy....

[Paul B]

Can't wait to see the pictures (especially of the Marmolada).

What happened to Tre Cime?

(also - can you remember where you started for Tofana, I'm pretty sure we screwed up here right from the start).

[Fultonius]

Tre Cime - ha! So, we had it in the back of our minds that we might try the Brandler Hasse. But comments such as "Good to be solid on Gogarth E5" and both of our lack of hard trad this year always kept it fairly in the back burner.

We went up to try the Cassin on the Cime Piccolissimo, but it's was fully gopping after a night of rain and low cloud. I have some funny pictures of that one...

So, with a route wishlist as long as our arms, the Hasse just kind of fell by the wayside. Keen for it next time though!

We started in the gully, traversed round until in a corner below a yellow roof (about 5/10m left of the big crack that is Pilastro). Up the corner/groove/diedre thing then left round the roof (good belay which I stopped 2m short of - d'oh!) Another 30m to a belay then a hard right traverse over easy ground to another corner/groove system. This is where we went wrong - kept going up to the top of the pillar rather than cutting left - this gave me an interesting traverse pitch back left. I didn't sleep well so this is all pretty vague memory! The walk of was not obvious in the mist either!

[Paul B]

I know where you mean, we trav'd in from the other end of the starting ledge and started before turning the corner; bad belay! D'oh.

[Fultonius]

Neil seconding the crux pitch of Via Irma on Piz Ciavazes, VII-


The old military path off Tofanes di Rozes.


Messner Variation, Marmolada. Pitch 28, 3rd crux. Neil scarping the barrel for strength!

More when I get my memory card back from Neil.

[duncan]

Good weather forecast and renewed psyche saw us staring at the first pitches of the Vinatzer/Messner link on the south face of the Marmolada - time for the big one!

... and we made it to the top. All pitches led clean, 11 hours....just longer than the 10 hours we'd planned to the get the cable car. Oh well - not too bad a walk down....

Good effort!  It's high on the list.  How did you get down (and what did you wear on your feet)?