darren
Poobah Emeritus
Adventures in Canazei
Canazei was the first town we based ourselves out of in the Domolites. Canazei sits in the Val Di Fassa at about 1400m (4600'). Route 48 heads out of town and climbs up to Passo Pordoi at 2239m (7350'). From Passo Pordoi, there are many trails and climbing routes that head off into the Selle Gruppe range and other lesser peaks with beautiful views. You can also take a ski lift tram right to the top of Sas De Pordoi, which is 2950m (9700'). That gets you up high in a hurry!
One of our hikes we did from Passo Pordoi was a loop of the Padon chain. The main route is known as the Vial Del Pan and skirts under the South side of the Padon chain summits and then drop down to Lago de Fedaia.
The views from the start in Passo Pordoi are amazing in all directions. As you start to gain the Padon ridge, the peaks to the South begin to come into view. Looking across the valley, Gran Vernal and the peaks beyond can be seen. Again, the views in every direction are incredible.
As we hiked down trail # 601, we were treated to a full frontal view of Marmolada. At about 3350m (11,000') tall, Marmolada is the highest peak in the Dolomites and has a huge glacier on it's North face.
The Vial del Pan (601) trail is a multi-use trail and we saw several mountain bikers enjoying the views from the trail. As we experienced later in the trip, spinning the pedals at that altitude is a lot of work.
As we got further East along the ridge, Lago di Fedaia and the end of the trail at Passo Fedaia came into view. Instead of dropping down to the road and taking a bus back to Canazei, we joined an Italian couple we had met on the trail and crossed over to the North side of the Padon chain and hiked back below the summits on that side. It made a nice loop back to the car and we had a great time talking with Marco and Alessandra. They had spent six months in the US and we had very humorous and entertaining conversations with them about the differences between our two countries. They were great trail companions and we really hope to hike with them again someday.
You simply can not take a trip to the Dolomites and not climb on the Via Ferrata. It just must be done. Via ferrata can be loosely translated as the "iron path". The via ferrata routes are essentially rock climbing routes that have steel cables bolted to the rock faces. The climber wears a climbing harness with a "lobster claw" set up - which is basically two short ropes with carabiners attached to the harness. One of the carabiners is clipped onto the cable and as you climb the face the carabiner slides up the cable. When you reach the next bolt that attaches the cable to the rock, you connect the second rope and carabiner on the far side of the bolt and detach the first. In this way, you are always connected to the cable and your worst case fall would be all the way back to the last bolt plus the length of your rope. You most likely will not die, but you might fall 15' or so and smack into the rock face. I'm sure it would hurt, but it's better than dying and much safer than setting your own protection.
For our first via ferrata experience, we hired two local guides. Actually we hired one guide and he couldn't speak very much English, so he brought his friend along who could speak English a little better. Two giudes for the price of one. What a bonus!
Our route was going to be a "short route of medium difficulty" or at least I think that is what our guides, Walter and Marco, said. The route went up the South face of a peak that rises above Col Rodela. In this picture, the route goes up the face of the summit cone on the right side of the tower. It is about 500' straight up the rocks. We skirted around the summit cone to get to the beginning of the via ferrata. Care needed to be taken just to get to the route. One slip on the scree would send you on a nice downward slide for thousands of feet.
The route was fairly easy at first requiring just some basic scrambling techniques. The safety fo the cable allowed me to ham it up for some mug shots. Maybe one mug shot too many.
Then the route got tougher and it was time to put the camera away. Some basic climbing moves were now required and Marco and Walter were great help and offered a lot of advice and tips. We reached the top and Marco, Carmel, and Walter posed for a summit shot with Canazei and the Fasso valley behind them.
The guides headed back to town and Carmel and I chose to extend our day hike. I checked out the map and picked a trail that allowed us to look back on the peak we climbed and had a nice view looking East to Marmolada.
More to come...
Canazei was the first town we based ourselves out of in the Domolites. Canazei sits in the Val Di Fassa at about 1400m (4600'). Route 48 heads out of town and climbs up to Passo Pordoi at 2239m (7350'). From Passo Pordoi, there are many trails and climbing routes that head off into the Selle Gruppe range and other lesser peaks with beautiful views. You can also take a ski lift tram right to the top of Sas De Pordoi, which is 2950m (9700'). That gets you up high in a hurry!
One of our hikes we did from Passo Pordoi was a loop of the Padon chain. The main route is known as the Vial Del Pan and skirts under the South side of the Padon chain summits and then drop down to Lago de Fedaia.
The views from the start in Passo Pordoi are amazing in all directions. As you start to gain the Padon ridge, the peaks to the South begin to come into view. Looking across the valley, Gran Vernal and the peaks beyond can be seen. Again, the views in every direction are incredible.
As we hiked down trail # 601, we were treated to a full frontal view of Marmolada. At about 3350m (11,000') tall, Marmolada is the highest peak in the Dolomites and has a huge glacier on it's North face.
The Vial del Pan (601) trail is a multi-use trail and we saw several mountain bikers enjoying the views from the trail. As we experienced later in the trip, spinning the pedals at that altitude is a lot of work.
As we got further East along the ridge, Lago di Fedaia and the end of the trail at Passo Fedaia came into view. Instead of dropping down to the road and taking a bus back to Canazei, we joined an Italian couple we had met on the trail and crossed over to the North side of the Padon chain and hiked back below the summits on that side. It made a nice loop back to the car and we had a great time talking with Marco and Alessandra. They had spent six months in the US and we had very humorous and entertaining conversations with them about the differences between our two countries. They were great trail companions and we really hope to hike with them again someday.
You simply can not take a trip to the Dolomites and not climb on the Via Ferrata. It just must be done. Via ferrata can be loosely translated as the "iron path". The via ferrata routes are essentially rock climbing routes that have steel cables bolted to the rock faces. The climber wears a climbing harness with a "lobster claw" set up - which is basically two short ropes with carabiners attached to the harness. One of the carabiners is clipped onto the cable and as you climb the face the carabiner slides up the cable. When you reach the next bolt that attaches the cable to the rock, you connect the second rope and carabiner on the far side of the bolt and detach the first. In this way, you are always connected to the cable and your worst case fall would be all the way back to the last bolt plus the length of your rope. You most likely will not die, but you might fall 15' or so and smack into the rock face. I'm sure it would hurt, but it's better than dying and much safer than setting your own protection.
For our first via ferrata experience, we hired two local guides. Actually we hired one guide and he couldn't speak very much English, so he brought his friend along who could speak English a little better. Two giudes for the price of one. What a bonus!
Our route was going to be a "short route of medium difficulty" or at least I think that is what our guides, Walter and Marco, said. The route went up the South face of a peak that rises above Col Rodela. In this picture, the route goes up the face of the summit cone on the right side of the tower. It is about 500' straight up the rocks. We skirted around the summit cone to get to the beginning of the via ferrata. Care needed to be taken just to get to the route. One slip on the scree would send you on a nice downward slide for thousands of feet.
The route was fairly easy at first requiring just some basic scrambling techniques. The safety fo the cable allowed me to ham it up for some mug shots. Maybe one mug shot too many.
Then the route got tougher and it was time to put the camera away. Some basic climbing moves were now required and Marco and Walter were great help and offered a lot of advice and tips. We reached the top and Marco, Carmel, and Walter posed for a summit shot with Canazei and the Fasso valley behind them.
The guides headed back to town and Carmel and I chose to extend our day hike. I checked out the map and picked a trail that allowed us to look back on the peak we climbed and had a nice view looking East to Marmolada.
More to come...
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