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Dolomites November

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markphilipjackson 08 Nov 2012
Hi all,

this is not actually a climbing question more of a walking / mountaineering one.

Myself and some friends are planning to go to the Dolomites the weekend after next (mid Nov) but we don't know a lot about the area.

Does anyone know what the snow conditions are in the Dolomites at present?

Can anyone recommend any good three day routes? We're after something pretty challenging without getting into technical mountaineering. And if there are bivi's / huts.

thanks very much
 beardy mike 08 Nov 2012
In reply to markphilipjackson: November is low season, so huts you may struggle with. Whatever route you decide on, you should make sure you prebook to make sure the huts and hotels are even open! Also in the high mountains there will also have been snow fall by now, so if you plan on going high you should prepare for a full mountaineering excursion, rather than walking. It really all depends on where in the Dolomites you plan on going and what you want to do. It's a nice time of the year with pretty decent weather and no crowds at all.
 Null 08 Nov 2012
In reply to markphilipjackson:

There was a stack of fresh snow down to about 1500 m until last weekend when a strong "libeccio" wind from Africa and torrential rain stripped it back to about 2500 (above which you can still expect plenty of fresh snow). Since then it has been cold at night and normal Autumn cool during the day so there is almost certainly a bit of surface ice up high. Forecast is more snow this coming weekend down to around 2000 m then improving from Monday.
So you need to plan for mixed conditions and you need to be careful not to sleep in some remote bivvy hut (a wonderful thing to do in itself) and wake up to find a metre of fresh snow and a wade out epic.
In these conditions the easy normal routes are typically much more challenging. Via ferratas tend to hold snow because they generally follow ledge systems.

Repeating what I have said in other threads, at this time of year (and in these conditions) I would go walking on the (easy) glaciers of the Adamello/Presanella group (just west of the Brenta Dolomites) because a bit of fresh snow basically makes no difference to your plans. Gorgeous free bivvy huts up there, nice easy peaks to climb and nobody around at this time of year.
The logic is that an easy Dolomite summer scramble becomes rather grim with 20 cm of snow on it, while a glacier plod remains much the same.

Of course you could apply the same logic and go up the normal glacier route on the Marmolada (they might even be skiing already by then).

Have fun
Bellie 08 Nov 2012
In reply to markphilipjackson: Snow now in the Northern Dolomites, unlike this time last year. Looks like over the coming weekend there will be over 70cm of snow on the higher levels at 2000m. Its forecast heavy rain at about 1300m but go any higher and it will be snowing, so expect a bit if you are arriving mid November I reckon.
Bellie 08 Nov 2012
In reply to Bellie: Crossed post with Erstwhile. What he said. Thankfully there is weather this year, unlike the benign high that sat for over a month bringing nothing last year!
markphilipjackson 11 Nov 2012
In reply to markphilipjackson: thanks everyone for the info. Really helpful. Can't wait to get out there!
 grommet 11 Nov 2012
In reply to markphilipjackson:

good links to webcams for part of the Dolomite region.
http://www.altabadiaski.info/pages/mp.php?getpage=webcam&se=E
so you can see snow levels

Ski season usually opens 23 November.
More info here http://www.altabadia.org/
JudyB 11 Nov 2012
In reply to markphilipjackson: It's been raining quite heavily all day today here (Bolzano), so I imagine there will be quite a bit of snow above 2000m or so! Be prepared for wintery conditions higher up. As others have said, huts are likely to be closed at this time of year.

Forecast looks better during the week, so fingers crossed for decent weather next weekend. For weather check out:
South Tyrol: http://www.provincia.bz.it/meteo/alto-adige.asp
Trentino: http://www.meteotrentino.it/bollettini/today/generale_en.aspx
Veneto: http://www.arpa.veneto.it/previsioni/en/html/meteo_dolomiti.php

Have a great trip.

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