UKC

Hi,
Myself and a couple of friends are doing the Bochette way in July. Looks like the easiest / cheapest thing to do is to fly to Milan and hire a car to get to Madonna di Campiglio. Does anyone know how easy it is to find a place you can park there for a week? I guess there are long stay car parks for skiing, but I can't really find much info.
Thanks!

In reply to chrisps:

Theres a car park at the lift station. You have to pay but we just told the guy we would be away for several days. I cant remember the rate but it wasnt very expensive. The bus also stops there for when you return from the other end.

In reply to chrisps:
What Si said - Enjoy it - I love the area.

In reply to chrisps:

Hi - slight hijack, sorry! Do you have a good source of info for the route etc?

Cheers

In reply to Bobbsy: When I did the Brenta Via Ferrata routes in 2007 we loosely based our itinerary on this jagged globe course:
http://www.jagged-globe.co.uk/course/itinerary/ferrata+bocchette.html
The guidebook we used was pretty good (by Ciccerone):
http://www.cicerone.co.uk/9781852843809.cfm

In reply to chrisps: When we did it we also flew to Milan then took train and bus to MdiC. Don't know if this is cheaper if there are a few of you, but beware fuel/insurance surcharges on hire cars.
Enjoy the mountains, we had a good adventure thanks to a big August dump of snow above 2000m - meant the routes were quiet
Worth chucking in a pair of stickies as there is good bouldering near several of the huts if you go for that sort of thing.

In reply to Bobbsy: You can buy a very useful map of the Brenta with all the VFs and paths marked on it in Madonna. It's all you need really given that the routes are pretty obvious once you get started.

In reply to chrisps: Thanks for all of the info guys; very helpful .

Bobbsy, we too are following the JG route roughly. If you look at the Cicerone guide (Dolomites Vol 2) Page 172, there is a scematic of the main Bochette way area. Using a mix of the schematic and the descriptions, you can work out what route you want to do fairly easily (obviously not done it yet, but thats the plan ).

Thats good to know that you can get a VF map in Madonna; I was going to photocopy the page of my guide to save weight, but that sounds much better!

Is there any topo maps of the area that I should get, or is the map you are talking about a topo map too?

Thanks!

In reply to chrisps:

In the summer it is reasonably easy to find free parking (you might have to walk for ten minutes to the lift, assuming you are taking it). When I go to Madonna I usually keep driving just beyond the main town towards the pass. Here there is a big layby parking area (overlooking the baby ski slopes) that always seems to have space (even in winter, for ski touring).
It would make more logistical sense to park at the bottom of the Brenta range, for example Tione, and then take a bus up to Madonna, and walk back down to the car, but that might be difficult to coordinate with flights and so on.

You could completely eliminate the car. For example:
Catch a train to Trento (trains very cheap here) and then take the coach from the bus station beside the train station to Madonna. When you finish your VF, head down towards the east (Molveno/Andalo). From there you can eaither walk or take a cablecar up the Paganella and then descend the other side towards Terlago. From there either a bus or panoramic footpath back to Trento. There is a refuge on the Paganella and plenty of old WWI bunkers between Terlago and Trento for an overnight doss (if I am around you could sleep in our luxury one).
If you were stuck overnight in Trento waiting for the coach here is a good hostel place very close to the train station.

In reply to chrisps: Not sure what you mean by a topo map - it's just a map. This is the one:
http://www.maps-store.it/italia/mappa-dolomiti-di-brenta-e-guide-map-carte-...

In reply to Stephen Reid:

Just noting that the Kompass maps are distinctly inferior. Much better the Tobacco maps, Austrian Alpine Club maps, and two or three new brands based on the latest technology (and some even wth decent paper).
This isn't too bad as a digital freebee:
http://www.dolomitidibrentain.it/cartina%20sentieri%20dolomiti.htm
click the maps then click again for big version.

In reply to chrisps: Thanks for the map info... useful.... I will try and get one of those.

From my looking, it seemed quite hard to get a train from Milan to Trento? Only one a day? Is it fairly safe just to park a car in a lay by for a week?

In reply to chrisps:

Change trains at Verona.

In reply to chrisps:


Loads of trains. Change at Verona. The two lines involved are among the busiest in Italy. The worst bit is probably getting to the train station (coach shuttle). If you fly to Verona (Easyjet) it's very simple.

Parking in Madonna should be OK. The only bad area I know for car break ins (around here) is in and around Arco. However, it's nothing like the south of France.

In reply to chrisps: We left the car in the big parpark by the Passo Groste cablecar when we went a couple of years ago. You had to pay, but I can't remember how much.
We took the 1st cablecar all the way up, walked south along the western flank to the tuckett hut, then did the Sentiero SOSAT and stayed overnight in the hut at the southern end of the range at ~2500m altitude whose name a forget. Then ballsed up the navigation and ended up at the gap east of where the Bochette Alte heads up after doing a nightmare ascent of the small glacier. Rather than descending it again we went down the new Ferrata Spellini and northwards along the VF Orsi to the Boccas Del Tuckett, and onwards to the cablecar again via the VF Alfredo Benini. Don't forget to take 6 point or more crampons, and maybe an axe and rope - to cross the small glacier/snow patches that will still be there in July. In the afternoons the snow will be soft and OK without crampons (albeit wet probably), but first thing in the mornings it will be totally solid and icy.

In reply to The Ivanator:

Thanks all for your help on routes, delayed reply by me due to computer malfunctions !

Cheers