UKC

Does anyone know where information on paths that have been closed in the Dolomites can be found? I have just returned from the Dolomites (we had lots of snow and rain) and I was disappointed to find that two of the trails I was hiking were closed (and had been for some time). Unfortunately, I didn't see the notices until I had hiked a good way. The paths that I found closed were (a) the 404 below Il Castelletto (due to rockfall), the notice I saw was at it's junction with the 402 just below Il Castelleto but there is another notice at the junction of the 404 with the 412 near Rif Dibona and (b) the 224 Variant which goes over the col at Forcella di Popena (near Misurina) - the only notice I (later) saw was at the end of the walk where the 222 meets the road at Val Popena Alta. These are both walks in Gillian Price's Shorter Walks in the Dolomites (walks 22 and 12). Also the notices were only in Italian and so a basic knowledge of some Italian would be useful.

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:

Maybe the CIA.( Italian alpine club)

We saw signs in the hut next to the Tre Cima. The Dibona?

In reply to ian caton:

Thanks but it's not that near Tre Cime. The 224 goes round Monte Popena that overlooks the lake at Misurina. The other walk is below the Tofana di Rozes.

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:

We always pop into the mountain guides office early on in a trip to find out about any closures or new stuff. Really helpful and speak great English.

In reply to Jenny C:

Thanks I'll bear that in mind for future trips. Presumably the office is in Cortina? This was my first time in the Dolomites and it hadn't occured to me to do that. I did try Google searches for closed paths but with little result. If we had seen a notice near where we started walking we could have modified our plans. So it did spoil 2 of the days when we had better weather.

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:

Yes centre of Cortina I think same building as the modern art museum. Much more helpful than tourist information for practical climbing and walking or vf advice.

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:

Gulliver is a good place to find this sort of info (Italian version of camp to camp). Knowledge of Italian or google translate needed.

gulliver.it

In reply to Jenny C:
There is also a guides place just down from the cooperativa . Very helpful.

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:
There is a chance you were just plain unlucky coming after some freakish weather. I maybe wrong.

We were there for August. One night they forcast 75 to 100mm of rain. We didn't get that in cortina, but out and about later on we could see there was massive stone/mud slides.

None of the paths below the Tofana were closed in the first week in august. Whereas when we were up at the Tre Cima, there were a couple closed, which looked recent to us.

In reply to ian caton:




The notice for the Forcella di Popena said that the closure was due to intense precipitation from August 5 to the 7th 2017 so you may be right. The closure was at a gully, which was once a path, and had small rocks continually tumbling down it. As for the path below the Tofana di Rozes, we later asked the staff (who had to consult) at the Rifugio Dibona about the closure due to rockfall and I was told it had been closed for some time (I am not sure how long though - my knowledge of Italian is almost non-existent). However I do know that despite the closure another party had got through a few days earlier (clear of any snow) but as we were trying to traverse the path (up by Grotte de Tofana) above some steep cliffs after heavy snow without clear sight of the path, it seemed a bit too risky so we turned back.

In reply to GeoffRadcliffe:
What a difference a few weeks make. 28 Celsius at 9pm, t-shirts and shorts for us. Hard to believe.