UKC

Planning to have 2 weeks in the Dolomites at the beginning of July with two others.

Thought I would come here first for ideas on routes, places to go and likely conditions.

Things I want to get out of it:
+Few days expedition
+Via Ferrata
+Scrambling

Hit me!

In reply to martin.p65:

There are some excellent via ferratas near Corvara worth doing.

In reply to martin.p65:

I bumped into a famous local climber called Richard Goedecke out there. One suggestion he had was to avoid the southern and western. Dolomites early in the season (e.g. July) as the area is known for mist at that time of year. He suggested the central & northern Dolomites would have better weather at that time.

Start routes very early to avoid the almost daily thunderstorms there.

In reply to Chris Sansum:


I have lived in the southern, western Dolomites for 10 years and have barely ever seen a wisp of mist in July (and almost none any other time of year). Your man was clearly lunching on mushrooms.

Early July is hot and busy, so you would do well to keep clear of the most popular areas, which basically means AVOIDING the central northern Dolomites (Sella pass area), although you can have fun even there.
July is the month of storms, mostly in the afternoon and potentially lethal, so get up early and keep your eyes open.
The things you want to do are possible just about anywhere in the Dolomites, which extend over an enormous area. I have a biased preference for the Brenta (nice camping by Lake Molvena), but really that's just because it's in my back yard. All the Dolomite areas are gorgeous.
The best time of year is September/early October, which is storm free and quiet.

In reply to martin.p65:

I went last september. We stayed in Arabba, near the Cortina area. Was excellent. As for stuff to do Via Ferrata is awesome, with some great history/culture thrown in too. I found the Cicerone guides to be spot on.

In reply to martin.p65:

Here's my tuppence-worth based on only two trips in early September.

Had some lovely weather but it also snowed, sometimes a lot : digging-ferrata-cables-out-with-your-ice-ax-at-2500m. Don't know about July but others obviously do.

I would also vote for the Brenta - it's got everything you want and is generally amazing. We used Madonna di Campiglio as a base. We didn't do any proper scrambling except Cima Faulkner - scrambly walk, very nice. But my guidebook has lots of (admittedly rather big) PDish routes doable in a day from a refuge.

Based on our trip (with added hindsight) you could take the Carlo Magno cablecar for a short less than two hours walk to the Tuckett refuge. Dump your scrambling gear, do several days hut to hut vias and return to Tuckett, pick up rope etc and do a peak or two and then lug everything back to the cablecar station. But there are limitless other possibilities. I'd think v carefully about ice axe and crampons depending on conditions and routes.

Very fond of Arabba. Super central. Loads of VFs at all levels. Village not too touristy (by local standards). Cheap accommodation.

Fanes national park was wild and looked possible for expeditions.

We found the Cicerone VF guidebooks indispensable plus they have updates on websites. For scrambling - if you can cope with Italian, "3000 delle Dolomiti" (collana vienormali) and "Cime e Alte Vie nelle Dolomiti"(tappeiner) look as if they do what they say on the tin, but I haven't tested them out yet. Also highly recommend Italian website vianormali.it, bit like an Italian camptocamp - try google translate if need be.

Have a great time. We're going back for our third September this year...

In reply to Erstwhile:

OK, interesting to hear that. He did seem quite experienced - he had written books on the Dolomites, had done a lot of new routes there, and had taken quite a few of the photos in the Kohler/Memmel Classic Dolomite Climbs book. Guess he must have just been there in different years to you!

On our trip last year we didn't get any problem with crowds on climbing routes - but we did tend to set off very early. Camping wild in tents helped with logistics as we were always in a strategic spot to leave for the next route, didn't have to contend with noisy campers coming back from the pub, and there was no waiting for breakfast to be served before we could leave.

There was a lot of snow over the winter before our trip which had not all melted, which made the descents from some of the high routes interesting in trainers. If there has been a lot of snow over the winter again, it could be worth bearing in mind if you are thinking about doing high routes. The local guides offices should have the latest details.

In reply to martin.p65:

This is all very useful. Thanks very much. Keep it coming!

So far my plans are:

Fly to Milan.
Milan --> Trento
Probably have a night in Trento and organise stuff.
Start various activities from there.

Wild camping is going to be our accomodation 90% of the time. Although I say wild, is it the rules to camp at the huts/refuges?

I would like to get Marmolada in. Thinking the expedition could be from South to Marmolada and back a different way.

What websites have you found useful for research?

Maps are something else I would like to look at. Is there an online page similar to OSGetAMap but for other countries rather than buying four different maps and only using one??