Free delivery on orders over £80Expedition Granted: Via Ferrata In The Dolomites
Words/Photos: James Cleves and Florrie Barber
Here at Ellis Brigham, we love to support our staff in their passion for the outdoors. One way that we do this is with our expedition grant, giving the staff members the opportunity to embark on some fantastic outdoor excursions.
James and Florrie from our Covent Garden store were lucky enough to secure the grant, and took a trip to the Dolomites to tackle some via ferrata and scrambling in some beautiful, but challenging terrain.
Sorapiss Circuit
Day one - VF Alfonso Vandelli
Our adventure in the Dolomites began at Venice Marco Polo airport. With limited public transport options in the Dolomites, we were lucky to be greeted by local guide Lorenzo Pilizzari. Putting our bags full of hardshells, softshells and insulated gilets into the car boot, we noticed his distinct lack of climbing equipment which had all been squeezed into one tiny bag. British siege tactics may work well in the Cairngorms in winter, but this was Europe in the summer where light is right.
We chose to head to Cortina d’Ampezzo - a large town right in the centre of the Dolomites surrounded by classic via ferrata and climbing routes. Our first target was the Sorapiss Circuit, a link-up of three remote via ferrata that surround Lake Sorapiss. Many opt to climb this circuit in two days with an overnight stay in one of the two of the bivouacs.
With the sun low in the sky, we started the walk towards VF Alfonso Vandelli. Route 243 spits you out at the bottom of a seemingly impregnable face of steep rock. This is a very remote route with no manned alpine huts. Any water is delivered to the huts by helicopter. Worrying about not having enough water, I kept my thoughts to myself as excitement took over as we pushed forward. The path lead to a slight line of weakness in the rock, a chimney equipped with a ladder, my first via ferreta.
We followed the ladders up until sufficient altitude had been gained. The ground eased as we began to traverse along a series of ledges under the Col del Fuoco. The climbing was never difficult, but the further along the route we got, the more sparse the wire protection became. The route meanders at the same height taking you around beautiful pillars of steep rock. Once you leave the ferrata the path gradually gets steeper, but thankfully much wider. Up to your right-hand side, a very steep path takes you to the summit of Col del Fuoco but we continued North-East towards the Comici bivouac.
Speaking of the Comici bivouac, where was it? The sun was down and we’d not eaten since we left the car. We had a quick rest, pulled our headtorches out and passed around snacks. With morale restored, we carried on down the path as it went steeply through a forest. Finally, a small hut tucked deep in the forest revealed itself. It was already occupied by two old Italian men who had claimed the best bunks, but at that point, I didn’t care. We had shelter and food. In the mountains, the prepackaged mushroom risotto tasted delicious, the perfect end to our first day.
Day Two - VF Sentiero Carlo Minazio and VF Francesco Berti
With an early start the next morning, we were quickly onto the next part of the climb, VF Sentiero Carlo Minazio. The route is another winding traverse along two main ledge systems, thankfully physically easier. Wires protect any real difficult moves however there are still some airy steps without protection.
Once the ledge systems had been left behind, the terrain changed to a much more pleasant alpine setting with grass and gentle hills. As we continued down path 243, the route split in two with the left-hand side taking you down to rifugio San Marco, an alternative starting point for the route. Taking the right-hand route - path 247 – we had a fairly uneventful slog towards the Slataper bivouac with its fresh pink paint job.
The path gradually climbs up to the Forcella della Bivacco which at 2670m is the highest point of the route. This marks the start of the VF Francesco Berti which leads gently down to the left. The wire protection became a little intermittent again, but thankfully most of the difficult moves were protected. The most difficult move of the circuit came as we left the safety of the ladders and stepped right onto the rock face to power through to the top. After this the ground flattened out and became very loose marking the start of the notorious scree section that leads to the shores of Lake Sorapiss. Once down, we walked around the lake to rejoin the path to rifugio Vandelli where the finish and a well-deserved cake awaited.
A few grappas were drunk to celebrate completing our first via ferrata. Car to car in just over 14 hours, just a few less than the advertised 18-22 hours of the Rockfax guidebook.
Rosengarten linkup
Day Three - VF Masare and VF Roda di Vael
For the next part of our trip, we wanted to link up a series of via ferratas in the Rosengarten region. The first starts at the Rotwandhütte with a steep walk up to the Masare ridge-line before following along the ridgeline with spectacular views. After downclimbing with a considerable loss of elevation, the route drops into a deep col marking the end of the VF Masare. We then followed signs for the straightforward via ferrata Roda di Vael. The route gently zig-zags back and forth with wire and ladders provided for the steeper sections. Leaving the last section of wire, the path flattens out into a gentle stroll to the summit of Roda di Vael marked by a huge cross. Continuing over the top of the summit we started to descend a steep wired section down to reach Passo di Viaolon, and from here followed some loose paths to get to the Kölner Hut.
At the Kölner hut, we opted for radlers instead of beers as there was one final climb before we reached our hut for the night. A leisurely lunch had meant we were behind schedule so we phoned our accommodation for the night, the rifugio Re Alberto. “Follow the via ferrata Satner, it will take you two hours”, the hut warden said in perfect English. Dinner was at 19:30, it was currently 17:00. We had plenty of time, so we sat back and ordered some more skiwassers.
The via ferrata Santner is not a well-advertised route but its grade comes in at a gentle 2A, although I mistakenly discarded the route as a simple path between two huts. During the climb, we discovered the warden from the Re Alberto hut was being very optimistic about the route timing… perhaps she had heard about our speed ascent of the Sorapiss circuit? The seemingly docile route starts around the back of the Kölner Hut but quickly transforms into an intense scramble. Before long, the path leads into a series of tighter and tighter gullies, until you are eventually presented at a gap between two rocks. You can stay low and squeeze yourself through, or waste energy and climb over the top of them. I played it cool and climbed up and over the gap saving myself the embarrassment of getting stuck. Unfortunately, the route continues like this for much of the way up. Having already climbed two via ferratas in the morning, I felt every one of the 413 meters of ascent.
I breathed a sigh of relief as we topped out of the climb. Just a stone's throw away, the hut was bathing in the warm evening sun. My watch said it was just after 19:00, plenty of time for dinner. However, as I glanced again at my watch, something didn’t seem right - we were still too high. Google maps to the rescue, and we discovered we were still 15 minutes away, this was the Santner hut! Keen to not keep the hut warden waiting, we jogged down the path towards the Re Alberto hut arriving just in time for dinner.
Day Four - VF Laurenzi
The following day we were eager to avoid the morning sun so planned to leave early. Unfortunately the earliest we could manage was 10am. As we raced down towards rifugio Vajolet, we could see the shade disappearing. Shade that would have covered us if we had actually left at a sensible time. No matter, nothing could dampen my mood today as I had been waiting weeks for the route ahead of us. I hadn’t told Florrie yet, but today was the day we climbed our test piece. Massive distance, huge height gain and a difficult grade of 4C.
Setting off from the hut towards rifugio Vajolet, we turned north following the path up to rifugio Passo Principe. The path is long, steep and unexciting. My Suunto was recording every step so we pushed the pace hard, overtaking many on the way up. Arriving at rigugio Passo Principe we chose path 584 which skirts around the impressive peak, leading to the Antermoia pass, where at 2770m, we encountered our first snow.
Climbing down from the pass the ground began to flatten and it is from here that VF Laurenzi begins steeply to the north. An unappealing scramble up an exceedingly loose scree slope finished at a blank piece of rock with a single wire pointing sharply towards the sky. This is officially the hardest section of the climb, but the rest is not straightforward either. Continuing up we reached a plateau at 2845m marked with Tibetan prayer flags. Taking in the view we passed down the other side of the plateau with a short downclimb leading to a small cave with a hidden routebook. One chimney squeeze later, we reached 30m face of pristine rock. This slab is not steep but the holds are not obvious. Successfully scaled, the climbing then eased into a traverse, followed by a down climb, a formula repeated many times on this route as you snake left and right following the ridgeline. Much too soon the delicate ridgeline broadened and after one short climb we dropped down to Molignon pass. If visibility is good, you should have already seen your resting place for the night, the recently refurbished and modern Rifugio Alpe Di.
Day Five - VF Sentiero Massimiliano
The following day saw us take on our final climb, via ferrata Sentiero Massimiliano which follows the Terrarossa ridgeline. This classic route starts 10 minutes away from the hut and provides spectacular views over the Rosengarten and Sassolungo Groups. It is an accessible climb and very popular with all climbers, therefore an early start is essential to beat the crowds.
This time we executed our alpine start to perfection and we were the second party on the climb. A quick push up the loose gully to the start of the wires allowed us to overtake a jolly German party of five, promoting us to the front of the climb. The top of the gully leads to a col with beautiful views across Seiser Alm - the largest high-altitude alpine meadow in Europe. On clear days, you can see across to Austria, however, on this particular day the valley was filled to the brim with a beautiful cloud inversion. Rising up sharply we reached the small summit Dente Grande di Terrarossa, with a view of the whole route along the ridgeline.
Working our way down the ridge, downclimbing eventually led us to a narrow chimney equipped with a rope and metal staples. The path then eased and with a final push we reached Cima di Terrarossa at 2655m, marked with a wooden cross. The descent back to rifugio Alpe di Tires took us off the west side of Cima di Terrarossa, dropping down through a pasture before joining path 4 back to the hut.
With all our planned climbs completed, sadly it was time to return to civilisation. We walked north to Compatsch where we caught a bus to St. Konstantin and then took another bus to Bolzano. Even though it was still early when we left, the sporadic public transport combined with the fact it was a Sunday meant it took most of the day to get to Bolzano. From here, a slightly more frequent train took us to Venice. It is possible to go from hut to airport in one day, but we decided to spend the night in Venice—a relaxing end to a fantastic trip.
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