The wife and I just wrapped up a lovely family vacation to the Dolomites, inspired by the great stories and images from the many recent Supertopo posts on the area. Rain plagued the mountains of Italy most of the summer, but we lucked out, rolling into Cortina D'Ampezzo just as the last of the systems was blowing through. For the next 10 days we enjoyed cobblestone alleys, Italian coffee, cheap wine, and a bit of proper Dolomite-style climbing.

The Warmp-Up - Torre Grande, Via Guide

We lined up a sweet little apartment in Cortina D'Ampezzo and spent our first morning shopping for bread, cheese and salami while waiting for the remnants of the last system to clear out. That afternoon, we headed up to the Cinque Torri for our first taste of the Dolomite limestone.




The first pitch crux of the Via Guide featured the most polished rock we would experience for the whole trip, but all in all we had a fine day out despite 20-30 mph winds. The stoke level was high.

Tofana Di Rozes, South Buttress 1

The next morning, we woke up early, brewed up some Italian coffee in those cute little metal coffee making things, and set off on the arduous 20 minute drive to Rifugio Dibona. From there, we made the equally taxing 45 minutes approach to the base of a beautiful and moderate 300+ meter line up a striking arete. We were taken aback by the vicious bushwhack and longed for the easy multi-day approaches of the Pacific Northwest.





Cima Piccola, Yellow Edge (Spigolo Giallo)

After a couple of rest days, we headed out to the Tre Cime in search of the fabled Yellow Edge.




We lucked out and had amazing weather on this south facing route. On this late-season Friday, there were still at least three parties on the route. With some Austrians nipping at our heels, we just managed to stay in front the whole day, and everyone played nice. The route wanders more than you might think looking at the formation from afar, and the rock isn't the greatest, but it is still a very cool natural line up a big hunk of stone. After a long and sketchy descent off the Tofana, we were really psyched to find only 10 ft of snow left in the gully between Cima Piccolo and Cima Grande. Good times.

Piz Pordoi, South Buttress (Mariakante)

After a beautiful week in our Cortina apartment, we felt obliged to experience another part of the Dolomites and moved shop over to Canazei, which could just as easily provide the setting for the next James Bond movie. Luckily for us, the late-September crowds were non-existent, and we splurged on a little hotel just south of town. The next mornng, we headed up to Passo Pordoi.






It was pretty surreal to belay from underneath the tram and then to hop the railing to the stares of the many tourists. It's not the way I would want to finish every climb, but we sure did enjoy it this one time.

The 4-minute descent left us with plenty of time to recuperate in the "Wellness Center" of our deserted Italian ski chalet. Yes, we were thinking of how much we missed the Cascades.


In all seriousness, we had an amazing time. The Italian people are warm and friendly, even in the glitz and glamor of an international ski resort, and the climbing is outstanding. For me, at least, its all about the natural beauty of the line in the Dolomites. I can only hope that we'll get the chance to climb more of the amazing routes in this part of the world . . . and for the next several days I'll enjoy Paklenica, Croatia. The Cascades can wait.