After a week of wandering around the Dolomites, revisiting many of the places and mountains I first visited when I lived in Italy over 20 years ago, I saved the best until last. Monte Civetta I/VE-006 with its sheer NW face was always going to be the grand finale.
NW face of Monte Civetta
The Dolomites really are a spectacular SOTA destination. The scenery is beyond description, the rifugios are excellent, and there are summits everywhere you look. The only downside is that many of those tempting SOTA peaks aren’t really “walking hills”; they require proper climbing or exposed via ferrata. If you’re happy clipping onto steel cables, it’s paradise. If not… you’ll spend a lot of time looking up and muttering “maybe next year.”
Dusk from Rufugio Coldai
I stayed the night at Rifugio Coldai, a perfect staging post for via Ferrata Degli Alleghesi. The Rufugio was buzzing with Alta Via 1 walkers, excellent food and great company. Breakfast was at 06:30, although some enthusiastic Italians had already disappeared towards the mountain at 05:30, and I have no idea how - I needed to be fuelled entirely by espresso at that hour.
Rufugio Coldai - a superb location
The walk to the start of Via Ferrata degli Alleghesi took about an hour. The ferrata announces itself with a ladder before launching into around 600 metres of wonderfully sustained climbing. Technically I found it easier than previous Ferratas, but it’s much more committing, more exposed and, being a speck on a huge wall, feels wonderfully serious.
Looking down on the initial ascent
Hitting the ridgeline with the via Ferreta
Reaching the ridge was one of those unforgettable moments. Looking over the northwest face with around 2,000 metres of air below certainly concentrates the mind! From there it’s another 400 metres climbing along the ridge to the summit, with continuous ferrata and superb positions.
2000m down the the NW face
The activation itself was a pleasure. Twenty metres was in excellent shape, producing a steady run across Europe, while 10 metres even treated me to a few Sporadic-E contacts. Many thanks to everyone who called.
Il Cima
Special thanks to all the Summit-to-Summit stations. Especially @GW4BML with 5W on his QMX and a particular mention goes to Fabio, @IK2LEY, who was also enjoying the Dolomites. Grazie Fabio, Piacere! Sembrava proprio il modo giusto per concludere la vacanza con una groundwave QSO in italiano!
10.9 Inverse L delivering for I/G5OLD/P
After packing up, it was a short descent to Rifugio Torrani for well-earned soup and bread before beginning what the is rather optimistically called Via Normale “normal descent.” Apparently in Italy “normal” means scree, more ferrata, scrambling, and about 1,000 metres of descent back to Rufugio Coldai. Character building descent!
The start of the descent with Rufugio Torrani
I made it back to Rifugio Coldai at 15:30, physically tired but well happy!
This was without doubt one of the finest mountain days I’ve ever had. Amazing rock, incredible exposure, perfect weather, excellent radio, and the satisfaction of finally standing on one of the great Dolomite giants. Thank you to everyone who I worked.
Monte Civetta from I/VE-142
It was a fitting end to a holiday that brought back so many memories from my time living in Italy two decades ago.
Nella Dolomiti - an incredible place
The only disappointment? I hardly took any photographs because I was worried about time and convinced I’d drop my phone into the abyss. I suspect it would still be falling now…
73, Tim I/G5OLD/P
