UKC

I'm going to a village just outside Trento for the week into March and have almost no idea what to expect weather and options wise. In the UK I've done Scottish winter and multipitch trad so have gear and skills for those.

The guys I'm going with have either only done sport climbing or have done loads of guiding and walking around glaciers in Antarctica or both but haven't done any trad. We'd quite like to go up high and do some mountaineering and/or easy ice falls or some sport climbing. Can anyone advise what to expect? Or on a good PD/AD route we could do?

If it snows loads then perhaps we will just end up skiing half the time!

If it's sunny you'll definitely be able to climb around Arco in March. Not only single pitch, there's loads of both sport and trad multipitch too - although a lot of it is east facing, so could get a bit brisk in the afternoon if you don't get up early & get a move on.

Hi, fir winter in the Dolomites you need to either look at cascade ice or have fairly advanced knowledge and skills in terms of you general mountaineering. Have just come back from the central Dolomites where in boots depending on the aspect you were either waist deep, postholing, or ontop of very solid crust/slab. We did a VF under winter conditions and sections of cable were buried for sometimes 50-60m on 50-60 degrees slopes. Or you need to be snowshoeing, alpine touring skiing etc... anything to prevent you from sinking in. Personally if your group is mixed in ability, Arco sounds like a better bet. 

Thanks, perhaps we will avoid anything other than the very easiest graded cascade near the road. I'd still like to go up a mountain but if we all need snow shoes just to reach the base that will be a real faff.

There are plenty of cascade routes which are reasonabley easy to access. For example Onda su Onda in Colfosco which is about 45 mins to walk to the base and then a pretty consistent 3+ (Scottish 4). Sottoguda is not officially open but you can just duck around the fences to do Cascata del Sole (in the morning before the sun hits it) which is 3+ for the first pitches. Further up the gorge there is Palestra and the first pitch of Cascata Attraversare both at 2+. All a short walk from the car. Val di Fassa also has easy to access climbs. PM me if you need ideas...

I suspect you will be able to rent snowshoes in the area. The issue you'd have is knowing what's avalanche-safe or not, and finding suitable paths. Snowshoeing is tremendously popular nowadays, so you should be able to find some info on suitable trails.

Yes this is absolutely correct, lots of rental places rent snow shoes. For ideas you could do worse than pick up a copy of James Rushforths ski mountaineering and snowshoe guide to the Dolomites.