Dolomites Via Ferrata "Alleghesi" and "Tissi"

Five days left of our time in Italy with friends Adrian and Andy, but only two days of good weather.  We were going to make the most of them!   This time we picked one of the most difficult, longest Via Ferratas in the region.   To do the whole route, we would need to spend a night up in a high mountain refugio, which we had booked in advance.    After spending the evening before unpacking from that day in the mountains, we repacked for a night and two days out in the hills.   Our packs were slightly heavier, as we now needed to carry extra snacks, toothbrush, sleeping sheet (blankets and pillows are provided) warmer clothes for the cool evening, headlamp, etc.   My luxury item was a single shot of Limoncello which tasted amazing before bed, all 2 sips of it!

Our destination: The highest summit on the left

Our chosen routes were in the Civetta range of the Dolomites, near Agordo.   We drove the winding mountain roads to get over there, and suddenly could see the massif towering above us as the fog cleared.   At the car park, we were scared to see that the first of the two stage lift was down for repairs, but were able to get a bus shuttle to the top instead.   Thankfully.  In retrospect, we may not have made it to the refugio before dark if we had needed to hike up that, too!

Refugio Coldai is tucked up on the left hillside

It was a glorious day for hiking in the mountains, and we found ourselves with small hordes of people all headed up to Refugio Coldai, just an hour from the top of the lift.  For a lot of them, this was their destination for the day, but we just stopped for a coffee and apple strudel.   By 11:30 am we were headed up into the bigger mountains and the start of what would be a long, exposed, difficult route.  This would be twice as long as yesterday's route, with the added factors of more exposure, Class 2 scrambling, and the complete inability to see how far was left to the summit.

Just before the start of the climb, we met a couple who had done it the day before and stayed up at the refugio.   They reported that although the shelter only slept 18 people, they had somehow crammed 24 in there by adding beds to the floor!  The lady also looked askance at Adrian, with his shock of white hair, who turned 72 this year, and seemed amazed he was attempting this.  Perhaps that was a warning of how hard and long the route really was!

We weren't deterred, a plan is a plan after all, and started the Via Ferrata with a few pegs and ladders.   The route alternated between cabled climbs, exposed scrambling, and gullies where we could catch our breath and feel safe for a minute.    The scrambling slowly exposed my fear of heights, as the cables would usually end, requiring short walks along and up ledges without any protection.  The dizzying nose of rock we were on took a nose dive into empty space...I knew because I had just climbed up it!  I really couldn't imagine going back down this route...it's one thing to lean into a rock and climb it, but coming down can be much more dangerous. 

Not helping with my confidence was that very occasionally we would find a loose or dangling cable, which always makes the mind wonder if there would be more broken pieces up ahead.  I really didn't want to go back down and we might not have made it before dark anyway.   The thing that kept me going was the couple we had met.  If it had been irreparably broken, then they wouldn't have done it yesterday.  Right?

At what we thought might be halfway, we put our backs to the wall of a small ledge, and ate our sandwiches.   It was almost 3 in the afternoon and we couldn't rest for long. 

The crux of the route came as we got our first glimpse of the western side of the mountain, and a new view.  All day long we had watched a finger of rock across a scree slope, first tower over us, then diminish way below us.  The western side of the mountain was a sheer cliff (not that the east side wasn't, really!), but at least it was something new to look at.   The route transitioned between two rock pinnacles, with several thousand sheer feet of exposure on the both sides.  At just that saddle, which was a couple feet wide and about 10 feet long, the cables ended on both sides.   In the lead of our group, I may have hyperventilated for a second.   I felt that frozen grip of fear, and told Jim to give me a minute.  It took a couple of deep breaths before I could gather my courage and more or less crawl across.   Of course, Andy and Adrian made it look like they were just strolling along a city sidewalk!

Just when we get this lovely view to the west, the exposed traverse along this cliff about makes my heart stop!

That about did in my mental game, although just after that we met a couple of mountain guides coming down the route, perhaps from doing some rock climbing.   Not only did they not have Via Ferrata gear clipped into the wires, they just strolled along not even holding on to the cables!   I really couldn't imagine....not only did that take a lot of confidence, but also a little stupidity.   It would be really easy to slip on the loose rock and slide to your death.

By that time I was more than ready to be finished for the day, and we all felt the same.  Unfortunately, the bad weather route to the refugio (in other words, the short-cut) seemed to be uncabled along what was a very tiny ledge, and just looking at it gave me the willies.  We stuck to the cabled route, which took us all the way up to the summit of Civetta, at about 3000 meters, or 10,000 feet.   The summit was really beautiful, and definitely worth being on.  We arrived at about 5:30 pm, along with four Frenchmen, who had rock climbed the western cliff, and seemed a bit worn out from their efforts.

From the summit, we could see the high Alps of Austria and probably Switzerland, as well as Mt. Triglav in Slovenia.  It was crystal clear, calm, sunny, and warm.   I would have stayed much longer, but for the first time, Refugio Torrani was in view.   All we had was a few hundred meters of steep scree descent to get to it, thankfully without any danger of falling off a cliff this time.

Our final count for the day was 7000 feet of ascent in 9 miles!   That's about as steep as it gets.

The Refugio was a small building tucked into the cliff, much smaller than some of other ones in the area, with just 18 beds.  A single guy was running the place, pumping out rock music and beers with a smile when we arrived.    Several of the climbers showed up soon after, and we moved into the main room, which was packed with triple level bunks, two rows of dining tables with benches, a bathroom and the kitchen.   Mr. Rock Music started a fire, which we were grateful for, and after everyone found drinks, started banging out dinner in the kitchen.   Twelve of us eventually showed up, and we were all served fresh bread, pasta with marinara, and bacon and eggs.  It tasted amazing.  The four of us were tucked into our bunks soon after the meal, and with earplugs I was able to tune out the loud Frenchmen and a couple of late arrivals and get some sleep.   I even slept though a group of people banging around at 3 am to get to the summit for the sunrise.



A red sunrise warned us that the weather was changing.   We were eager to get back down off the mountain, and there were two other ways than our ascent route.  The "normal" way promised lots more cables, exposure, and steep descents.  We opted for the longer, other Via Ferrata route, which we found amenable.    The Ferrata itself was down very steep, almost vertical rock, but to my relief, it was well built and well protected, with very little free scrambling.   I quite enjoyed it!

The placemat at Refugio Coldai

Of course at the bottom was quite a bit more descent on scree, but it wasn't horrible, and at least we didn't have to go up it.  From there it was a nice traverse back around the side of the mountain, and soon we found ourselves back on yesterdays trail.   The clouds were moving in, and the wind was changing, and it was a good time to be going back down.  We stopped for a meal at Refugio Coldai (they have at least 100 beds), knowing that we just had another hour to walk down to the lift.  With rain for the rest of our time in Italy that would be the last of our adventures but at least it was a doozy:)

Via Ferrata Alleghesi (translate from Italian)
https://www.vieferrate.it/pag-relazioni/relazioni-regione-veneto/56-gruppo-civetta/256-alleghesi.html

Via Ferrata Tissi
https://www.vieferrate.it/pag-relazioni/relazioni-regione-veneto/56-gruppo-civetta/214-tissi.html

The map makes everything look much flatter than it really is!

Some exposed traversing

Civetta summit at about 3000 meters