UKC

Hi.

Wanting to head the dolomites with one other person. I'm keen on doing the best via Ferrata in the area (suggestions please ) but the person I'd be travelling with is not keen on it and would want to hike.

I'm looking for suggestions for via Ferrara routes to the top of peaks with easy, non exposed paths that also lead to the top so we can meet up. Would have to be easy to follow hiking trail as navigation is not a strong point of theirs!

Thanks in advance!

In reply to phja:
Your mate shouldn't have any navigation problems if she obeys the signs - maps are more of a problem as the paths don't always appear on the maps in exactly the right place due to the difficulty in drawing terrain full of vertical bits.
Consequently, you're either on the path (which will be well worn and well marked with red&white paint) or you're falling down a cliff!
You could do the Brigadata Tridentina and she could do the not very nice path 666? and meet up at the hut at the top before continuing on across the plateau. Or if you want a hard one you could go up PizBoe and she could get the cablecar up?
I can't think of particularly good things like that in the Brenta - you could do Groste to Tuckett hut on the Bernini and she could take the nice contouring path on the west side, then you could do either bochette or SOSAT and meet at one of the huts but her path would entail going fairly low on the western side, or doing the O.Orsi on the eastern side which has a dodgy snow patch and couloir - neither of which she'd probably enjoy.
Not too many VF take in summits. One nice one that would fit your requirements would be the Lachenspitze VF in Austria. I guess you just need to pick VFs that do peaks and have an easy walk off which she could do to get up to the top. Colac near Canazei might fit the bill, but there are cables on the descent. The VFs near Arco all have easy paths down, but they're not high mountains and the nav is trickier as they're amongst trees.

In reply to phja:

A few VF ideas:

Piz da Lech - Good VF. You can walk up the 'normal' route (it does have one tiny section of wire though).
Ski Club 18 - They could get the cable-car up and walk on the plateau until you arrive
Giovanni Lipella - The normal route is very obvious albeit a long one
Col dei Bois - Very pleasant walk up to the top either from the field hospital at the bottom or by getting the Lagazoui cablecar and then traversing across.
Trincee - Nice walk along the Padon ridge contouring underneath the via ferrata
Piazetta - Could meet you on the summit of Piz Boe after walking up from the top of the Pordoi cable car (small amount of very easy wire again).

Failing that you could do some easy protected paths together - Lagazoui troop path / tunnels - path number 7 up to Santa Croce etc.

Have fun!

In reply to phja:

To echo what others have said:

Brigadata Tridentina is a lovely VF, with a refugio right at the top, but it can be *very* busy, so get there early. The walk out is very steep.

Piz da Lech is another good one, and a lot quieter, probably because of the more remove location. We took a gondola then chair-lift, but its possible to walk all of it. As James has said, there is some wire on the walk out, but I can't remember whether we used any kit for this, or just held on.

We stayed in Corvara with Colletts and I would recommend both.

Rob

In reply to Toerag:



I normally take what people write or assume with a pinch of salt. However, I was dismayed that you assumed that the person phja referred to was female; you made several references to 'she'. Whatever possessed you to assume that. Bang out of order.

Even if it is a female that phja is referring to you should not say something that demeans the females amongst us.

Not posted with any malice, just making you aware that things like that can easily offend.

In reply to phja:

You could go to Passo Pordoi.

You ascend Piazetta a hard 5c via ferrata with brilliant positions. Your friend can take the cable car up to the Piz Boe plateau. They can take in the view and walk over to the refugio. They can enjoy a hot chocolate and read a book whilst enjoying the view waiting for you. Then you can both have lunch before walking over the cable car and back down.

In reply to Orgsm:

Yes, Piazzetta is a good ferrata for that. Beware, we agreed to meet up with someone this way at the end of the ferrata, saying "see you at the rifugio at the top of Piz Boe". Unfortunately she saw a sign to "Rifugio Boe" and spent a long time sitting inside that waiting in vain for us to turn up. I explained that her error was like agreeing to meet at the cafe at the top of Snowdon and going to the Snowdon Hotel in Llanberis or somewhere by mistake, but she was still grumpy about it for ages.

In reply to phja:

There is a cool long via ferrata in the Brenta dolomites, it's about 2 to 4 days long depending on how fit you might be. There are paths all over the place around it so it would be pretty easy to arrange to meet up with your other at huts or a bit before reaching them. Or you could do part of the via ferrata for a single day - walk up the path for a bit together then split ways before the via ferrata; other takes the low way, you take the high way, then you meet up later on.

Tofana Di Rozes has both an easy path and a fun via ferrata to the top.
Marmolada has a via ferrata and a cablecar to the top.

Generally, if you buy a few Dolomites maps, it's pretty easy to look at them and plan a route with via ferrata options.

I would caution you though:
Sending someone who is incompetent off to meet you at a particular point with a map and a pat on the back isn't a great idea. If you have to turn back mid via ferrata because it's buried in snow or the other gets lost or a thunderstorm suddenly sweeps in, there is all sorts of potential for acrimony/injury/rescue.
The paths in the dolomites are often not that easy to follow if it gets dark and the prodigious quantity of vertical ground means that there is often no easy way to just retreat back down if suddenly forced to turn around in a hurry (in the UK, for comparison, 99% of the mountains can be walked off in a simple straight line till you get to a river and that followed to a road so screwing up your navigation is, by comparison, not very serious).

In reply to phja:

I would second James Rushforth's suggestions of Piz da Lech and Trincee, both of which we did 18 months ago. I loved both. They both fit both your bills. With Trincee, there is a little peak just up after you would exit the tunnel, You and your mate could meet there. The views are just wonderful, and you may even find my glasses!

The newish Sandro Pertini one would do too, it it has not been closed down [it goes close to an eagle's nest, or something]. You could both meet at the refugio that is just up from the top of the VF. The walk up to that, particularly the upper section, is very beautiful (but there is no cable car, so your mate (and you!) would have to walk down again.

In reply to mbh:


I'm afraid the cable has now been removed.

In reply to James Rushforth:

Oh, that is a shame.

In reply to Removed User:


I'm VERY sure the original un-edited post referred to the friend as a 'she'.

In reply to Toerag:


Well in that case I have to take your word for that and take back what I said.

In reply to phja:

I'd echo what's james has said and add sass di Stria as a via ferrata you could attempt together. It all runs up through gullies and the old trenches. There are a few ladders but they reall are not that extensive and it's just a great day out. Another would be the possnecker with your partner meeting you either at rigugio boe or coming around to piz sella. There's one slightly loose rubbley section at the start as you come down to forcella Pordoi but if they take care they will be fine. It's a section of maybe 100m.