Sella Rock

ALESSIO CONZ – RENATO BERNARD

SELLA rock

255 CLASSIC AND SPORT ROUTES IN THE SELLA GROUP

First edition July 2023

ISBN 978 88 55471 473

Copyright © 2023 VERSANTE SUD – Milano (I), via Rosso di San Secondo, 1. Ph. +39 02 7490163 www.versantesud.it

All translation, reproduction, adaptation and electronic registration, either totally or partially, by any methods, are rights reserved for all countries.

Cover image climbing via Maria at Sass Pordoi. © Renato Bernard

Text Alessio Conz and Renato Bernard

Drawings and topos Eugenio Pinotti

Photos from author’s archives unless otherwise specified

English translation Alexandra Ercolani

Maps Tommaso Bacciocchi. © Mapbox, © Open Street Map

Symbols Tommaso Bacciocchi

Layout Manuel Leorato and Matteo Bertolotti

Printing EFFE e ERRE Litografia, Trento - Italy

ZERO miles

This guidebook is homegrown and locally produced ZERO

This is a “zero-miles” guidebook. It’s locally produced!

miles!

It has been compiled by local authors, who live and promote climbing in the area reviewed.

Climbers benefit from local authors:

– locals know the latest news and updates

– locals don’t promote only the most “commercial” spots

– locals invest the revenues from the guidebook in equipping new crags

Local authors promote and respect their area:

they review only the spots where climbing is allowed

– they pay attention in the same way to any different spot

they meaningfully interact with local actors

Note

Climbing is a potentially dangerous sport in which participation is entirely at your own risk. All the information in this guide has been updated based upon information at the time of publication, however it is vital to evaluate every situation yourself before placing yourself in a life threatening situation or to seek the advice of experienced and qualified individuals.

ALESSIO CONZ, RENATO BERNARD

SELLA ROCK

255 Classic and sport routes in the Sella Group

Alberto Tradati - Piz Ciavazes, Via Rossi Tomasi (© Sassbaloss)

The authors

Renato Bernard

• ISEF (physical education) DIPLOMA

• Ski Instructor and alpine skiing coach with the Italian Ski school of Campitello.

• Mountain Guide and Instructor of the Mountain Guides with Fassa Guides - Casa delle Guide

Campitello di Fassa

During the early 60s the Fassa Valley began to realise that tourism could become a more profitable alternative source; the Dolomite’s state road SS48 was not yet covered in asphalt and passo Fedaia could only be reached on foot from Pian Trevisan; at Campitello the Col Rodella chair lift kept going round and round unperturbed and in town during winter, skiing at the old pommer lift was my favourite pastime. I managed to meet Luigi Micheluzzi, Gian Battista Vinatzer, don Tita Soraruf and to climb with Bepi Defrancesc.

I started climbing with rigid boots, aiders and I used to shoulder belay; the first harness appeared in Val di Fassa after my trip to England in 1979 when I imported Williams by Troll and a few prototypes of home made nuts (in those days I climbed Stanage Edge in the Peak District in the most extreme trad area you can imagine since friends still did not exist).

I was lucky enough to experience a mountain atmosphere that existed only in those days, authentic and genuine, rich in altruism, the guides were part of a group and worked well together (the group Ciamorces was born).

I managed to place the first bolts in the Sarca Valley, in the crag Nuovi Orizzonti and to open the legendary Mescalito on Rupe Secca in Arco together with the legendary Renzo Vettori also known as D’Artagnan. But I also managed to get rid of the burden of the past and accept the future, to live the present with zeal and determination. Now I am over 60 years old and I still climb and ski with agility and skill and occasionally I still manage to free difficult pitches today which I never managed to free as a youngster. I spent all of my life in Val di Fassa, even if I never turned up my nose to nice trips and adventures abroad.

I currently live with my family in Campitello di Fassa where over the years we managed to build a small residence with holiday apartments to rent out to tourists. I really should have become a hotel owner, in fact when I was born my family managed a hotel, Albergo Agnello, which in those days was ahead of its time and a few years later after we moved into our own hotel. I lived my first twenty years in the hotel which was enough to understand that kind of life was not for me and as soon as I was old enough I chose to become a Ski Instructor and Mountain Guide and to follow the road which suited me the best.

My first trip to the United States dates back to 1983 when I went to ‘conquer’ Yosemite Valley, and after that trip many more followed. Between one interruption and another I ended my studies (Physical Education Diploma in Urbino) and completed my career on the snow passing all the exams to become an alpine ski coach and instructor to teach Mountain Guides. As a coach I trained the Marmolada ski club and then the Fassa ski team; during the nineties there was also a short period of time where I was the director of the Campitello ski school, where I still work nowadays during periods of high season. At the beginning of the 2000s I found myself part of a group of teachers at the futuristic high school in Tione as responsible for the mountain sector. While another very interesting assignment I have had over recent years is teaching freeride during the ski instructor courses, a very satisfactory and interesting activity. In conclusion, I currently manage the Mountain Guide courses underway in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

In a few words a varied life, mountaineering wise and not; I love new experiences and testing my abilities continuously, keeping my motivation high and the wish to improve; it is important to move in contact with nature, in the mountains, confronting oneself with others, being in contact with youngsters, and hoping to bring home something new and interesting. I do not favour one specific discipline, but as they say I am an allrounder; enjoying climbing on rock and ice (dry tooling); ski mountaineering and off-piste skiing, and in a few words I follow the seasons and my mood.

All my life I have put an effort into this activity and I do so with great passion; I still enjoy myself and so do those who come with me; everything is done without neglecting safety which to me is always the most important thing.

My professional c.v. consists of thousands of ascents and repetitions in the Dolomites and in the Alps: Marmolada, Civetta, Tre Cime, Tofane, Monte Bianco, Cervino. Badile, Grossglockner, Wildspitze, Bernina, Palu, Gran Sasso, Sardinia, Sicily, Greece, Croatia, Norway, Spain, El Capitan and Half Dome (Yosemite), Ben Nevis (Scotland), Triglav (Slovenia)

Many expeditions: Denali (Alaska), Ama Dablam, Cho Oyu and Manaslu (Nepal), Shivling (India), Cotopaxi and Chimborazo (Ecuador), Patagonia, Perú, Canada.

In conclusion, such a lot of experience and passion to be passed on.

Renato Bernard, Federica Mingolla, Enrico Veronese

Alessio Conz

He started climbing and ski mountaineering during the early 80s and assiduously started visiting the Dolomites for fifteen years or so, later on he favoured crags and sports routes.

At school he studied to become a surveyor then he worked as a technical designer for years he then left that job and started to manage mountain huts and working with ropes and safety, keeping rock faces clean; then he went back to working as a surveyor in a firm which works in stabilising rock faces. CAI Instructor of alpinism from 1987 in 2010 he then became a Mountain Guide working full time offering activities in Valsugana such as canyoning (he discovered and equipped the Makkiayon canyon) and via ferrate. He thus created Lagorai Avventura - Canyoning Valsugana now a consolidated outdoor reality in the area of Valsugana and Lagorai. (www.lagoraiavventura.it)

He undertook an in depth exploration of the Lagorai mountains both in terms of ski-mountaineering, and climbing publishing two ski-mountaineering guidebooks, and two climbing guidebooks, as well as opening numerous sports routes and crags in the group.

He has carried out projects of upkeep and maintenance at various crags as well as extending them, involving various administrations (Valle del Vanoi- Sette Selle-Passo Manghen) thus developing the lesser known areas. He has also bolted various crags around Trento and in 2016 he wrote the area’s first climbing guide book, completely self- produced. In his rope work he has specialized in the maintenance of via ferratas as well as personally making gear and equipment for sports climbing crags. He has also carried out a flourishing activity of publications, books and articles.

Guides and books published:

• Sci Alpinismo in Lagorai - Cima d’Asta

Alessio Conz e Andrea Reboldi, Versante Sud

2010

• Arrampicare sul granito delle Dolomiti – Lagorai

Alessio Conz e Gianfranco Tomio, Versante Sud

2011

• Trento falesie - arrampicata sportiva a Trento

Alessio Conz, Effe Erre 2016

• Mountain Bike in Valsugana e Lagorai

Alessio Conz, Versante Sud 2018

• Escursioni in Valsugana e Lagorai

Alessio Conz, Versante Sud 2018

• Garda Outdoor - raccolta di 100 itinerari misti

Alessio Conz e Diego Filippi, Vividolomiti 2019

• Trento Falesie

Alessio Conz, Vividolomiti 2019

• Lagorai Rock

Alessio Conz, Versante Sud 2019

• Sci alpinismo in Lagorai

Alessio Conz, Versante Sud 2019

• Dolomiti New Age - 130 vie moderne in Dolomiti

Alessio Conz, Versante Sud 2020

• Montagne di luce - 8 racconti

Alessio Conz, 2022

• Spit in Dolomiti (storico/saggio)

Alessio Conz, Versante Sud 2022

• Sella Rock

Alessio Conz e Renato Bernard, Versante Sud

2023

Introduction by Alessio Conz

I started to discover the Sella Group during the early 80s and in various ways I continued to visit it over the years, but I would have never felt able to tackle this job on my own, without the connections nor the necessary contacts, and this is how the excellent partnership with Renato was born.

Was there the need for a new guide book on the Sella group?

We obviously set off with this fundamental question and we reached the conclusion that there was a lack of a complete and modern narrative of all the main ascents. With this book we have tried to supply a precise and up to date map which includes repeated classic routes which have already been described, as well as less known routes and obviously many new routes obviously.

The work began with approximately 200 routes but we ended up with a much higher number of 255 routes which nonetheless represent a selection due to the vastness of the group. We divided the group into 8 sectors to have a wider geographical position, including even historical information due to the remarkable differences in the routes. We have tried to make the positioning of the routes as easy to read as possible with many photos of the rock faces.

Did we climb all of the routes?

Obviously not, but we can say that we looked for first hand accounts by those who opened or repeated all of the routes that we did not personally touch with our own hands or for those routes where there were doubts on the description, eliminating even interesting routes on which we could not provide sufficient information. Further more I consider the question irrelevant since historically guidebooks have been written by those with the great patience of collecting and presenting the information in the best possible way, and in this case (this is my tenth guide book published) the work was vastly superior to my previous guide books.

Will there be any mistakes?

No doubt. I have learned over time that in spite of the effort made there will always be some mistakes; however I found some mistakes even as I leafed through the guides written by those had personally climbed the routes. In fact there are even two or three descriptions published which are completely different one from the other, so much so that it doesn’t even seem like the same route. Essentially it is even difficult to adequately represent certain routes, where for long sections there is no true obligatory route and therefore there are various variants. To avoid errors we have accumulated hours and hours connected to out computers; me, Renato and Manuel Leorato (the graphic designer who laid out the book), communicating continuously with Eugenio Pinotti (who sketched the drawings). We hope that this sequence of exchanges has produced a good end result.

The descriptions.

Almost all the descriptions have drawings or photos with lines drawn on them, more than enough in the case of sports routes but obviously more delicate in the case of classic routes. For the Mësule routes and for few others we have introduced the description as much as possible of the protections present, but in general we presume that a roped party who tackles a classic route has a minimum amount of alpinism experience to make the best choice of the route using a photo and the itinerary drawn on it. Often, repeating routes in the Dolomites, I have asked myself where I should go (even if I had a topo in my hand) and I have always asked myself what I would have done if I had a been the route opener (and especially if I had opened that route in 1950!) almost always resolving the problem. Without a doubt I have climbed up some variants but in general I have always ended the routes I began. Sometimes I retreated but that is part of the game.

Manuel AgreiterGino Bellumat (© Matteo Agreiter)

Introduction by Renato Bernard

I am especially fond of the Sella Group, I can say that they are my home mountains. I moved my first steps on these mountains both as an alpinist and as a climber.

I remember my first excursions together with my parents on the piz Boè plateau, and then a bit older, the various routes and ferrate of the group, Mesules, Piazzetta, Piz da Lech and Tridentina: these places have always attracted my curiosity and imagination. Then my real climbs arrived; sports climbing didn’t exist in those days and the approach was completely different. I began climbing with the mountain guide Renzo Fave’ who lived next door to me, we climbed on the route via dei Camini and then the arête Stegher, and then on the Prima Torre del Sella (and I will make the most of it and thank him officially here), and I also climbed with Silvio Riz. Later on, I hadn’t even turned fourteen yet, I repeated the Trenker route with Gaetano Rasom, ending almost at sun set, then the arête of the Second Tower with the first real teacher Enzo Nogara from Lecco (repeated, leading it, a few days later with my brother Ivo), and then the route grande Via Micheluzzi at Ciavazes with my future climbing partner of many rock escapades, Stefan Stuflesser then the routes on the Mesules followed. As soon as I turned twenty I got my mountain guide diploma and this great passion of mine turned into a dream: the possibility of accompanying clients in this play ground I had just discovered. The step was very short from climbing just for fun to doing it as a job and the desire grew in me to make the routes and the surrounding environment increasingly safer. That is how I began the restyling of the anchor points of some of the classic routes (see rings on the routes Maria and Gross at Sass Pordoi, or else on the route Via della Rampa at Piz Ciavazes, until completely rebolting some routes such as Roberta 83, Baci da Honolulu and Alfa and Omega, Icterus, until opening the route Roberta 85, Non c’è 2 senza te or the most recent route Willi on Sass Pordoi.

It was an honour and a pleasure when Alessio Conz asked me to take part in compiling this guide book. We had already collaborated when writing the book “Dolomiti New Age” when I helped with the chapters describing the Sella/ Catinaccio area and we experienced a good synergy.

Probably I have repeated more than half of the routes in this book, sometimes more than once, I can remember many of the routes, others less so. The result is a great book, obviously always ready to improve, there will always be some inaccuracies (hopefully very few) only readers can be the judge of that. This book is dedicate to my son Etienne, who died prematurely on these mountains a short time ago, in the hope that this, from where he may be climbing and skiing now, may please him.

Thanks

A heartfelt thanks to all those who have helped us in the compilation of this book, especially to Gregor Demetz who, as well as supplying interesting descriptions of his routes, had so much patience to collaborate in writing the Mëisules chapter. Thanks to Heinz Grill & C. for info and his interview. Thanks to Simon Kehrer, Roly Galvagni, Ivan Feller and Silvano Matassoni, Tommaso Cardelli, Franco Sartori, for the interesting descriptions of the new routes. Thanks to everybody else for their info and photos.

• Alberto De Giuli (G.A.)

• Alessandro Beber (G.A.)

• Antonio Zanetti (C.A.A.I.)

• Barbara Holzer

• Dario Feller (C.A.A.I.)

• Edy Boldrin - e la sua guida “Finché c’è roccia c’è speranza”(G.A.)

• Fabio Lasagni

• Filippo Nardi - and the nice site “Oltrelavetta”

• Florian Kluchner (G.A.)

• Francesco Cornella (G.A.)

• Franco Sartori (C.A.A.I.)

• Gianfranco Menotti (G.A.)

• Giorgia Felicetti

• Giovanni Lonati for the pictures

• Gregor Demtez (G.A.)

• Heinz Grill (C.A.A.I.)

• Ivan Feller

• Lorenzo Gadda (G.A.)

• Luca Caldini (G.A.)

• Luca Carotti

• Manuel Agreiter (G.A.) - manager of Rifugio Kostner al Vallon

• Manuel Leorato (I.N.A.)

• Marcello Cominetti (G.A.)

• Marino Tamanini (I.N.A.L.)

• Martin Heiss

• Matteo Agreiter for the pictures

• Matteo Bertolotti (I.N.A.) and Sassbaloss

• Matteo Mocellin - photographer

• Maurizio Giordani (C.A.A.I., G.A.)

• Mauro Loss (I.N.A. - I.N.S.A. - I.N.A.L.)

• Michel Ghezzi

• Nicola Tondini (G.A.)

• Pier Verri (C.A.A.I.)

• Roberto Iacopelli (G.A.) - and his amazing comic guide books

• Roland Mittesteiner

• Roly Galvagni

• Stefan Stuflesser (G.A.) - and his climbing guide book “Intorno al Passo Sella”

• Silvano Matassoni

• Simon Gietl (G.A.)

• Simon Kehrer (G.A.)

• Tommaso Cardelli (G.A.)

G.A.: Guida Alpina

C.A.A.I.: Club Alpino Accademico

I.N.A.: Istruttore Nazionale Alpinismo (CAI)

I.N.S.A.: Istruttore Nazionale Sci Alpinismo (CAI)

I.N.A.L.: Istruttore Nazionale Arrampicata Libera (CAI)

We dedicate this guide book to Etienne Bernard, sure that his soul still lives among these mountains which he loved so dearly and which saw him grow up he Madonna which stands on Sassolungo with the phrase dedicated to all the mothers of mountaineers and mountain guides.

Behind the scenes of every great mountaineer there is a mother in the front row

Technical introduction

GEAR

There is no need to use too many words to explain what gear is needed on a climb: every climber has their own personal habits. But every route description in this book includes the gear needed on every specific route.

WEATHER

It is possible to consult the weather forecast on the following websites: www.meteoam.it - www.ilmeteo.it www.meteo.it - www.3bmeteo.it

ADVICE AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The majority of the routes described here have been repeated by us. For the remaining itineraries we have directly asked the route openers or the alpinists who have climbed the route. We have tried to write this guide book as carefully as possible, repeating as many of the routes as possible, however this does not guarantee that the text does not contain some inaccuracies and some incomplete information. We apologize in advance and invite readers-climbers to notify us of any inaccuracies through the publisher’s addresses to help us improve the next edition.

MOUNTAIN RESCUE

Mountain Rescue is active in the region of Trentino-South Tyrol. If you need their assistance call the phone number 118.

EVALUATION OF THE ROUTES

To classify the routes as completely as possible, we have used the extended grading system which does not differentiate the general effort required on a route (the environment, the distance from the valley floor, the length of the route, the psychological effort) from the effort relative to placing protection and the distance between protections. All this has to be considered separately from the technical difficulties, commonly expressed using the French or UIAA grading system.

We thus have three parameters to take into consideration and three different grading systems to use together with the route’s description: technical difficulty, protectability, overall effort.

To get a precise idea of a route it will therefore be necessary to use all three of them together, because each one used separately will not give sufficient information to the climber who wishes to repeat the route.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY

FR Free climbing grade followed by the obligatory grade and the possible aid climbing grade in brackets. Two examples available on the right.

7b (6a, A0 obl.) 6c+ (6b obl.)

UIAA Grade of the hardest section followed by the obligatory grade plus the aid climbing grade in brackets. Two examples available on the right. VI (V+, A0 obl.)

(IV, A1 obl.)

S1 Normal protection system such as on cliffs. Average distance between bolts: 3,4 metres. Potential length of fall: some metres; fall without danger.

S2 Distant bolts and compulsory passages from one bolt to another. Potential length of fall: a maximum of 10 metres; fall without danger.

S3 Distant bolts, almost always compulsory passages. A distance of sometimes more than 5 metres between bolts. Long falls but not very dangerous.

S4 Very distant bolts (more than 7 metres), compulsory passages. A fall can potentially cause an injury.

R1 Easy to protect, always solid, safe and numerous protections. Few compulsory passages. Potential length of fall: some metres; fall without danger.

R2 Fairly easy to protect, always solid and safe protections, smaller in number. Compulsory passages between protections. Potential length of fall: some metres; fall without danger.

R3 Difficult to protect, not always good protections, bolts rather distant from each other. Long compulsory passages. Potential length of fall until 7-8 metres, fall with possible injury.

R4 Difficult to protect, scarce and/or unreliable and/or distant protections which could allow just a small fall. Long compulsory passages. Potential length of fall until 15 metres with possibility of losing the anchors. Fall with a high possibility of injury.

S5 Bolts more than 10 metres apart, compulsory passages and parts where a fall can surely cause an injury (fall on terraces and ledges or directly to the ground).

S6 Partially bolted but far from cruxes, long parts (more than 20 metres) from which a fall could be mortal.

OVERALL FEATURES

I Short route just taking a few hours, near the road and with a comfortable approach track, nice surrounding and easy downclimb.

II Multi-pitch route on a wall of more than 200 metres of length, easy approach track, rather long, easy downclimb.

III Long route of more than 300 metres that will take all day long, difficult surrounding. Long approach track and rather slow downclimb.

IV Very long route of more than 500 metres, on severe wall far away from the bottom of the valley. It will take you all day long and the downclimb might be complicated, as you can‘t climb down the same route.

R5 Difficult to protect, scarce, unreliable and/or distant protections, which could allow just a small fall. Long compulsory passages. Possibility of long falls that might lead to the ground with consequent serious injuries.

R6 Not possible to protect but for short and insignificant passages far from cruxes. A fall could be mortal.

V Very long route, big wall style, requires a bivvi on the wall. Difficult downclimb, difficult surrounding.

VI Big wall which requires more days on the walls, High Mountain surrounding, difficult downclimb.

VII All the features of the 6th grade, but exasperated, such as on big walls in the Himalayas, which need a real expedition.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

The French grading system was used for the bolted routes and sports routes while the UIAA grading system was used for the alpine routes which are protected mainly with pegs. For each route the highest difficulty is described as well as the obligatory grade.

PROTECTIBILTY

We have used a grading system which takes into account the distance and reliability of the anchor points using the letter “S” in the case of bolted routes and the letter “R” in the case of routes which use pegs or routes which are not equipped. For any mixed routes the letter “RS” was used.

OVERALL EFFORT

This grading system replaces the French grading system (TD, ED..) the following aspects are taken into consideration when evaluating the route’s overall effort, the environment in which the climbing is carried out in, the difficulty in re-

treating and the distance from the valley floor. It is basically the American grading system used on big walls, expressed with Roman numerals from I to VII (open scale) together with the technical difficulties. As you can tell from the table, the grades are totally independent from the difficulties, which will therefore always be used with the Roman numeral.

PHOTOS

Each photograph is associated with a description that includes the name of the person who took the photo.

TOPOS

All opos have abbreviations.

• ch Peg

• cl Rock tunnel

• sp Rock spike

• X Bolt

Silvano Arrigoni - Prima Torre di Sella, Spigolo Steger (© Sassbaloss)

Prima Torre di Sella, Via Delenda Carthago (© Sassbaloss)

If you ask me why I climb you will never understand my answer

Peter Boardman

Mountain

The peak of Pisciadù, 2985m, rises on the north face of the group at the end of the vast Mesule plateau. Near the peak the Torre del Pisciadù rises with its imposing east face. At the base of the peak lies the mountain hut Rifugio Franco Cavazza al Pisciadù, situated in a vast flat area, beyond it the beautiful rock faces visible from the road which connects Passo Gardena to Corvara; this is the eastern wall of Pisciadù with Torre Colfosco and the Western Wall with Torre Brunico. This face is carved out by the steep Val Setus and the well known Tridentina ferrata runs across it; both lead to Rifugio Pisciadù.

Rifugio Franco Cavazza al Pisciadù

+39 0471 836292 +39 335 6096141 01.

Màsores

Simon Gietl - Torre Colfosco, La Perla Nera (© M. Mocellin)

TORRE DEL PISCIAD Ù

Beautiful tower which rises nearby Rifugio Cavazza al Pisciadù.

1. LINEA DORATA (E)

Franco Sartori, Antonio Zanetti (2009/2010)

Length: 750m (22P)

Difficulty: VI+ A1/RS3/IV

Gear: hammer and pegs, friends and nuts, kevlar threads, 1 aider per person.

The route starts on the left of a visible leaning corner. The first 10 pitches of the route represent classic alpine climbing with maximum difficulties of up to V+ (R3) and run up the grey wall up to the base of the yellow overhangs where the bolted section begins.

Access: from rifugio Cavazza follow the path which leads to Val de Mesdì until the end of the equipped section, then cross the screes to reach the lowest point of the rock face. 30’ It is possible to reach the start by setting off from Colfosco, Hotel Luianta 1670m, to head up Val de Mesdì, following paths 651/676, until the start of the route. 2h

Descent: follow the cairns towards the gully on the right and reach the first anchor point for abseiling. With 3 abseils reach the gully which divides the tower from the top of Pisciadù and follow it. The gully is quite difficult and often covered in snow/ ice (on the orographic right hand side you will find some pegs in-situ).

Piz Ciavazes North

Torri del Sella - north face

IV TORRE DEL SELLA 2605m

ACCESS

From Passo Sella, Albergo Maria Flora - Val Gardena side, follow path nr.649 for Ferrata delle Mesule. The path runs across the base of the Torri del Sella walls to then climb up shortly to the start of the route. 30’

DESCENT

From the top abseil down into the gully between IV Tower and the wall of Piz Ciavazes.

1. MALSINER - MORODER (N)

Vinzenz Malsiner and Ludwig Moroder (1961)

Length: 350m (11P)

Difficulty: VI+ (VI, A0)/R2/III

Gear: A few small and medium sized friends.

Beautiful route on nice rock, now a classic; sustained and exposed climbing, the crux pitch is well protected. The first pitch follows an evident crack.

Lorenzo Paroni, Icterus (© R. Bernard) Torri

I Torre di Sella (© R. Bernard)

Via dei Pilastrini (© A. Conz)

35. VIA DEI PILASTRI (S)

First ascentionists unknown

Length: 130m (5P)

Difficulty: VI, A0/R2/I

Gear: friends

Nice ascent which starts up a crack where there is a wedged in boulder; the first pitch presents a crack which was protected using nuts but that is now protected with some bolts (6b), to then continue towards left and reaches the edge of the pillar with a nice pitch up yellow red rock.

36. VIE DEI CAMINI

There are 3 lines which climb up this wall: a route starts off just to the right of the previous, where there is a crack formed by a leaning pillar with a large wedged in boulder (36A - external chimneys). Further to the right two other easier lines set off, one is more windy (36B) and one is a more direct line (36C).

36A.

CAMINI ESTERNI (S)

First ascentionists unknown

Length: 160m (6P)

Difficulty: V/R2/I

Gear: friends

Fun ascent

36B.

CAMINI (SE)

First ascentionists unknown

Length: 200m (8P)

Difficulty: IV/R2/I

Gear: friends

36C.

CAMINI DIRETTA (SE)

Maria Gabloner, Franz Kostner (1905)

Length: 170m (7P)

Difficulty: IV/R2/I

Gear: friends

110cm jump or 90 cm bridging wedged in boulder

CAMINI DIRETTA

36C

SASS DLES DIESC 2916 m

ACCESS

From the top of the Vallon lifts quickly reach the start of the routes. 30’

DESCENT

From the exit of the routes go in a northerly direction until the edge of the rock face above Forcella Morena (between Sass dle Diesc and Piz da Lech), with a 50 metre abseil reach the rock steps which lead to the saddle and then descend down the gully which leads back to the base of the rock faces.

5. CHEZ MAXIM (SE)

Michele Barbiero, Andrea Zannini (1992)

Length: 280m (10P)

Difficulty: VI+ (VI-, A0)/R2/II

Gear: a series of friends.

Beautiful route on excellent rock except for a short section which is well protected. All the pegs are in situ (even some bolts) but friends should be added. The route starts in a niche a few metres to the right side of the black streak.

6. CASTIGLIONI-DETASSIS (SE)

Ettore Castiglioni and Bruno Detassis (1935)

Length: 325m (10P)

Difficulty: V+/R3/III

Gear: hammer and pegs (not indispensable), friends and nuts, kevlar threads.

An interesting route on excellent rock but dirty in some sections. It runs entirely up the chimney and presents athletic type of climbing. The route is often wet therefore best to plan it end of season or after dry periods. The anchors consists of rock tunnels or pegs, on the route add pro.

traverse on loose rock with bolt

Classic and modern routes in the DOLOMITES