Climbing in the Dolomites
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Howdy - my wife and I will be in the Dolomites from June 5 to June 22. From June 5 through June 14 we will be based in Arco sport climbing, but we are still figuring out where to go after that. We sport climb into the high 5.11s and trad climb into the high 5.10s, low 5.11s, and we both really enjoy alpine and multipitch climbing. Arco will mostly be focused on sport climbing, so after that we would love to get on some fun alpine multipitch routes in roughly the 5.7 to 5.10 range and keep things relatively low stress. We're happy to mix in rifugios, campgrounds, and hotels depending on what makes sense and we are not trying to go full luxury the whole time. We'll have a rental car as well. From what I can tell it looks like Italy has had an average or slightly below average snow year so I am hoping some of the higher routes might be reasonably in condition by mid June. Ideally we would prefer not to bring crampons or ice axes if we can avoid it. Any recommendations for areas, huts, or classic routes that might fit the bill would be greatly appreciated! |
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I think you should be fine with south facing walls e.g. Sella group between Sella and Pordoi pass or areas between Valparola/Giau passes and Cortina - Fanis/Tofane, Cinque Torri, Nuvolau groups. Plenty of classics to choose from assuming trad not alpine sport. I always recommend Mauro Bernardi's guidebooks if you can read Italian or German (Val Gardena for first area and Cortina for the second one). Both areas are pretty busy on weekends and might be noisy due to traffic below but easy/no approach and dry fast. This might be important as June has pretty high chance of afternoon storms. For reference, second half of june couple years ago after really snowy winter: Sass de Stria sport sector with snow up to first/second bolt but south facing walls ( Lagazuoi, Falzarego ) in great conditions. Tons of snow in the gully between Falzarego towers - this was the only time I had to abseil there but belays are available. Afternoon storm every couple days. Big snowfall forced us to go back early, the snow stayed for ~2-3 days. |
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I don't think you can go wrong with the Falzarego pass area out of Cortina. It is quite busy (mostly tourists) but there are so many cragging and alpine options at different elevations and aspects. it is a great area for plan b's if weather prevents a long multi-pitch route. stay at the Hotel Al Sasso di Stria to avoid having to go into Cortina too much. https://maps.app.goo.gl/8qyNByVxNiFnKWD29 Rifugio Camillo Giussani is a great traditional rifugio in an amazing location. You can do a few different via ferattas or some committing climbs on Tofana then stay there. |
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Im wondering about some of the bigger objectives like cime grande, the north face/comici. In early July do people expect this route to climb well and be dry? |
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Cime Grande was pretty dry in mid/late July last year, and had 1-2 parties on it each time we saw it. |
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I just got done climbing in South Tyrol/ Tre Cime di Lavaredo and everything was dry |



