In reply to CurlyStevo:
> advises that pegs should be carried on many of the routes.
In some Dolomite areas they are generally not required. In others, often yes. This is partly because Dolomite rock is very variable, sometimes like a Swiss cheese with rock threads, sometimes more crystalline and compact. Also, some of the Dolomites are not "Dolomite" at all, but limestone, which is much more compact and often pegs are the only option. Examples include the Marmolada S. face, and on Cima Ghez and Croz dell'Altissimo in the Brenta: on the latter two (huge walls) you would be daft not to take pegs. The whole of the Sarca valley (some of the biggest walls in the Dolomites) is limestone and apart from the well known popular routes (and bolted routes, obviously) you are well advised to carry a handful of pegs and at least one hammer.
Not the sort of binary answer you perhaps hoped for: you will need to get specific up to date info for each route (and not get lost), or carry some just in case.
My own experience with pegs is classic Murphy's law: sometimes you take them but almost never use them; sometimes you don't take them and end up in a high and lonely place with nothing but a knife-blade crack in front of your nose, or you get lost descending in darkness or storm and end up abandoning expensive cams for the lack of a kingpin and a hammer. One friend recently vowed that from now on he would always carry some, regardless. From the look in his eye, this was clearly an "experiential" decision.
A couple of "ideas": if your route requires taking an axe, you might consider a light ice hammer instead, giving you peg potential (good old Roger Payne used to assure me you could always smash them in with your axe - I did try once, but intend to avoid it in future). Second idea: a lot of peg hammers are (rightly) real heavy pigs. I found a very lightweight Cassin hammer that requires a bit of sweat and fury to function but does the job in those occasional peg panic moments.
Oh yes, and you need to know how to place them properly, too (not quite as simple as folk sometimes think). You could get some practice at your local crags in the UK before coming over.
