Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites: Vol 2. John Smith

      see information for each route

      Tourist Information Office

      Tourist Board, Italy 39100, Piazza Walther 8, Bolzano

      Tel: [phone]

      Fax: [phone]

      E-mail: [email protected]

      Internet: www.bolzano-bozen.it/en/bolzano.htm

      Bolzano (Bozen) is the main town in the Adige valley and the capital of the Alto-Adige province. It is the heart of the German-speaking area and has a Tyrolean, rather than Italian, atmosphere. Bolzano has been chosen more as a starting point than as a place to stay, since the three routes in this section are rather dispersed, and there are many accommodation options available in the surrounding villages. This thriving commercial centre lies just off the Brennero autostrada, on the main rail link from Munich to Venice. It also has its own small airport with a few charter flights from the United Kingdom.

      Bolzano is also a popular tourist destination, not least because of the excellent museum which has been constructed to house the ‘Ice Man’, nicknamed Otzi, as he was discovered in the Otztal Glacier. The forensic examination on his well-preserved 5000-year-old body was performed by Austrian scientists, and then he was returned to Bolzano (for political, rather than curatorial, reasons). A visit to the exhibition (where a recorded audio-guide can be hired in English) is a fascinating way to spend a day out from your climbing schedule, though, as many people consider it a bad weather option, queues are highly likely when it’s wet.

BOLZ 1

      Campanili del Latemar

Grade:	2
Seriousness:	C
Departure point:	Maier Alm, or Panorama Chairlift, Obereggen 2150m or Gardone Gondola Predazzo.
Ascent:	800m (from Maier Alm)
Descent:	800m
Via ferrata:	200m
Approximate time:	6–7 hours
Highest altitude:	2846m
Map:	Tabacco Carta Topographica 1:25,000 Sheet 014

      The route runs along ledges and walking terrain through the Latemar towers, with grassy flanks to the south and stunning views down steep walls on the north. It is not as popular as the routes on Catinaccio (see Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites, volume 1, for details of routes in that area), and you will have a good chance of a quieter day out.

      This is a good mountain route with a superb panorama of the Dolomites, particularly the Catinaccio peaks immediately to the north of Passo Costalunga.

      This route can be attacked from a variety of directions, your choice perhaps best dictated by where you are staying (Obereggen Tourist Information www.eggental.com, email [email protected], tel. [phone], fax [phone]; APT Val di Fiemme Cavalese from www.aptfiemme.tn.it, email [email protected], tel. [phone], fax [phone]).

      From the west (Bolzano) or north (Passo Costalungo) you can not only drive to Obereggen, but take a chairlift (from the end of June to the end of September) up to Oberholz (2090m). It is also possible to drive up to Maier Alm, 2037m (which you will see on maps with a variety of different spellings), from the Obereggen side on a road which is surfaced, except for the final approach up to Maier Alm.

      From the southern side you can drive from Cavalese up to Maier Alm via Pampeago and Passo Pampeago, though the road is unsurfaced for the 2½km from Pampeago to the pass. Another approach from the south is to use the lift system from Predazzo (only operates from the end of June to the end of September) to Passo Feudo and walk in to Rifugi Torre di Pisa, 2671m, from there. The rifugio is in a wonderfully panoramic position.

      View of the Torri Di Latemar range from the south

      The route is described here as a circuit from Maier Alm (large car park), climbing to Rif. Torre di Pisa. From there you descend into a vast scree-filled bowl (Conca Valsorda) and then to the start of the ferrata at Forcella dei Campanili. The ferrata is easy technically, and except for part of the final descent to Forcella Grande would only be Grade 1 not Grade 2. However, the route does have a lot of exposure, and a good head for heights and surefootedness are necessary on a number of unprotected sections on steep ground. Also, whichever approach you make, it is quite a long day requiring a good level of fitness – there is no slack in the timings. Try to do the route when the weather is stable and clear, as the views throughout the route make this a very satisfying mountain day out.

      Follow the track up behind Maier Alm leading up a ski piste, and in 15 minutes, almost level with the top of a chairlift, there is a boulder field with waymarks for path 22 in both directions. Take the right fork which heads up through the boulders until, in about 10 minutes, you are above the chairlift. Path 22 continues ahead but the approach to Rifugio Torre di Pisa turns left, heading directly up to the steep scree above you. Waymarking at this junction point is not brilliant, though 22TV is painted faintly on a rock, and after about 5 minutes R.Pisa/Lat H is painted on a large rock (note that Rifugio Torre di Pisa is also known as the Latemar Hutte). The next 30 minutes or so are the hardest work of the day, as you climb arduously up the steep scree, gaining about 400m in the process, to arrive at a forcella with a large avalanche fence. From this forcella you can see 516 (the path to Rif. Torre di Pisa) painted in large numbers on a rock ahead. The path from here has been well engineered and in a further 30 minutes you arrive at the rifugio. It is a small, family-run rifugio (sleeps 20), open from the end of June to the beginning of October, tel. [phone].

      Path 516/18 climbs up behind the rifugio to a ridge where, on a clear day, fantastic views open up before you including Latemar (today’s target), Piz Boe, Marmolada, Pelmo, Civetta and Pale San Martino. Waymarks are excellent now for the rest of the day, as you descend from the short ridge into a bowl which can hold snow early in the season; this (and other snow crossings mentioned later on) are on easy-angled ground. About 20 minutes from the rifugio you continue straight ahead passing the junction of the path on the left which leads up to Forcella dei Camosci. Path 516/18 continues for a further 20 minutes, with little height gain or loss, across the vast scree and rock bowl until you reach the well-signed junction of paths 511/18 and 516. Path 511 is indicated as Sentiero Attrezzata and Biv. Rigatti 1 hour 20 minutes; this is somewhat optimistic, as the climb up path 511 to Forcella dei Campanili takes about 20 minutes, and then a notice at the start of the ferrata informs you it will take 1½ hours! However the views from Forcella dei Campanili are quite stunning, looking down to Passo Costalunga and across to Roda di Vael and Punta Masare (see Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites, volume one). This viewpoint is the first of a number of amazing panoramas to the north.

      Follow waymarks up from the route sign to the first cables in about 7 or 8 minutes. About 10 minutes of cabling (quite loosely tensioned and with long gaps between pegs) leads up and along a series of ledges. From the end of the cable, about 5 minutes of walking (in places quite exposed) leads to a spectacular gully of brown eroding rock, where there may be early-season snow. Cables go across the gully and up onto a ledge on the other side. More exposed walking follows, with only one short cable protection, to reach