Early season in The Dolomites (Cortina d'Ampezzo)

Hey yall,

My partner and I are going to Italy this May for some vice (and climbing of course). We are going to be staying in Cortina d'Ampezzo with the intention of climbing Cinque Torri. However, their winter season is looking like it's still going strong and I'm doubtful that things will thaw enough in the coming weeks to allow for our original climbing objectives.

What are some other early season climbing areas within an hour-ish drive of Cortina? Any lower elevation features that may allow for some multipitch? Open to sport climbing, but would prefer trad/alpine if conditions allow.

I climb 5c trad and 7a sport, but easier more moderate options are preferred for this trip. Bringing a light single rack to 3 inches, lots of alpine draws, a dozen quickdraws, a 70m single rope, and twin 60m ropes.

Grazie!

Joey

Look into Lienz in Austria.  

 I just started re-searching for a trip I'm taking in September and got the east Tyrol guidebook buy Vittorio Messini which  includes several crags around the area that look to be between 1000 and 2000 meters in elevation.

 Unfortunately mountain project doesn't have too much for Austria 

A  2 1/2 hour drive or so will get you to Innsbruck or Arco 

I think Cinque Torri could be an option if May is warm as usual. Only problem could be descent, rappels are sometimes thru some gullies, there could be some snow. I suggest you try Via de la guida on Torre grande first. If you couldn't go down regulary, you could rappel down the route, with twin 60 m you need 2 or 3 rappels. It's easy route, but first pitch is super polished, so you might have some fun there.

marjan bohnec wrote:

I think Cinque Torri could be an option if May is warm as usual. Only problem could be descent, rappels are sometimes thru some gullies, there could be some snow. I suggest you try Via de la guida on Torre grande first. If you couldn't go down regulary, you could rappel down the route, with twin 60 m you need 2 or 3 rappels. It's easy route, but first pitch is super polished, so you might have some fun there.

Good point about descending Cinque Torre - the rap line goes through a shady gulley that probably holds snow for a while. You may be able to descend the front side with the proper rope(s). 

I'd think you could climb in the Cinque Torre group in May...although late May would be better...yeah, snowy right now (webcams).  Might be worth renting an ax, crampons and boots in Cortina if conditions were snowy/icy.  

Lagazuoi

Lagazuoi is sunny south facing.  Can't imagine not being able to climb there in May.  Plus, fun tunnels and VF venues.

South side of Lagazuoi on 19 March this year.  Sunny!

There are gobs of stuff to climb within an hour of Cortina...(I'd probably look north towards Toblach).

Resurrecting this thread after my trip with an update (in case future civilizations want to go climb in the Dolomites in early season).

I do not recommend going to the dolomites in May. The entire range is essentially a ghost town with severely limited resources and access. It rained almost every day to some extent. It was difficult being surrounded by limitless possibilities in a striking landscape while 99.99% of those possibilities were a non option.

That being said, I was able to get some rad climbs in!

The top of Falzarego Pass had some great single pitch options with zero snow on the climbs and minimal snow on the approach. Be warned that currently the data on the Lagazuoi page is incomplete, poorly organized, and full of errors.

Cinque Torri was accessible by hiking up the service road east of the chairlift. It was a 90 minute approach and the main formation was in a snowfield. South facing climbs were in on Torri Grand (Via Miriam looked doable, but was too long for our short weather window). Torre Inglese and Torre Quarta were both dry and super fun. Live webcam of Cinque Torri.

Sass Dlacia was devoid of snow and the routes were good to go. It was raining (like many days in May) when I hiked around the crag, but the climbing looked stellar.

The spring inclement weather was unfortunate, but on the plus side we were the only climbers on Cinque Torri all day, which is a near impossible event during normal season. All in all it was an amazing trip and I hope this post helps future planners with their own trips. Ciao Ciao!

Joey Chicharrones wrote:

The top of Falzarego Pass had some great single pitch options with zero snow on the climbs and minimal snow on the approach. Be warned that currently the data on the Lagazuoi page is incomplete, poorly organized, and full of errors.

If you've the time and inclination...make some suggestions for improvements!

Thanks for the update on your trip.  Good info!

Brian in SLC wrote:

If you've the time and inclination...make some suggestions for improvements!

Thanks for the update on your trip.  Good info!

Great suggestion, Brian! Hate to resurrect a dead thread, but wanted to update. Took a while, but I've updated the Lagazuoi page into some subareas and improved the descriptions. Cheers!

Glad you managed to get some stuff done.  If I had seen this thread previously, I probably would have advised you to skip or postpone for the reasons you discovered.  I spent part of my honeymoon in the Dolomites ( so no climbing sadly) in mid to late June.  We had nice weather but the people at the hotel we stayed kept telling us how lucky we were because it is usually rainy until July.  I also learned that much of the activity is seasonal and things like lifts are not open yet.  Still had a great time, like it sounds like you did, but would have gotten a lot more out of the area later in the year.  

Looks great...thanks!