The Dolomites

Well, 14 hours after getting back from Greenland, Emilie and I headed off on a flight to Venice - but not for a romantic city break like most, but for a week enjoying the mountains, sunshine and via ferratas of the Dolomites!! And what a week...

Whenever I think of the Dolomites, I have an unfortunate recollection of "Cliffhanger," the entertainingly bad 90's film with Sly Stallone and ... er ... some other people. Needless to say, the Dolomites were far better than the film (which was a relief) and we were out all day every day in gorgeous weather and had a suitably exhausting holiday after my season on the ice.

My first visit, and definitely not my last, the mountains blew me away. Stunning. That is the only word to describe them. Huge Limestone cliffs towering over lush green valleys with quaint little villages (in which you can find lots and lots of very good hot chocolate and local ice cream!!)

And the views on the road weren't bad either (alebit from a very gutless fiat panda which eventually made it over the 61 switchbacks to Arabba)

Some old fortifications overlooking the Marmolada

Via Ferratas were originally built to help alpine military units move around the mountains in the First World War - troops lived and fought on the highest tops of the area as the war between nations ensued. Travel to and between the fortifications built on the ridges was protected by cables which you could hold or attach to, along with tunnels, bridges and ledges.

Hand built tunnels and bridges

The idea has stuck, and they have developed recreational via ferratas all over the alps as part of the outdoor tourist industry.

They are basically climbs of various grades which are protected by a cable that is attached at intervals to the rock. When the climbing is difficult they also add metal steps and other ingenious ways to help you up that difficult bit. Of course, you can also pull on the cable!

You wear a normal climbing harnass and use a Via Ferrata shock absorbing set to attach. This does what it says on the tin and has two flick gate carabiners that you can move one at a time. This means you should always be attached by one and therefore safe as houses.

Clipping on the next cable

It's a brilliant way of climbing mountains whilst still being able to fly with Ryanair! All you need is a harnass, helmet and a VF shock absorber. It's also worth wearing a pair of cycling gloves to protect you from any frays and sharp bits on the metalwork (and bring a torch for the tunnels)

OK, I will happily admit, after spending the whole summer in a tent and then snow cave, camping was well down the list and we booked a lovely B&B for the week. And what a great decision it was too! After 6-8 hours on the hill each day it was just brilliant to come back to a freshly made bed, hot shower and have to go out for dinner again! Not to say my camping days are over, but you have to treat yourself once in a while.

And so the onslaught of ferratas begins. As with any mountain trip, things are pretty much weather dependent but this usually works both ways. You want good weather to get out and about, but also expect, and, deep down (as it's a holiday) would cope well with bad weather for a lazy rest day. The bad weather never came, and the rest day never materialised.

Mustn't grumble, it was only 5 days but we were nicely tired by the end. Based in Moena, in the Val di Fassa, we climbed mostly nearby in Fassa and Arabba and found some spectacular routes, with the help of the Cicerone guidebook. Routes sometimes go straight up mountains, sometimes take exposed traverses and traverse beautiful ridges.

Most of them have a reasonable walk in and out to make it a whole day. Sometimes you have the route to yourself, and sometimes it's amusingly busy, with queues building up behind difficult steps or slow people. There is some etiquette involved and if it's not a major jam people will let you pass and vice versa. Sometimes, however, there are large groups and things slow down. We even rushed ahead of one on the walk in just to not get stuck behind.

A large group that we sneaked ahead of!

So, five days of via ferratas, all grades, some topping out on 3000m peaks in the area, some busy, some deserted. A brilliant week and we'll be back next year! And here's a bunch of photos to prove it.

The approach paths were as spectacular as the climbs

The route here actually traverses straight over this pinnacle

Even though we were at the end of the summer, there was still an abundance of wild flowers including edelweiss which is somewhat of a rarity (and, like us, also a lover of limestone!)

Emilie wasn't very happy when I pointed out that it's actually her head that's wonky and not the helmet...

Some of the airy traverse paths are not protected so a head for heights is useful!

On most of the routes there are refuges - we didn't stay in any (we will next year) but they also act as little mountain restaurants and do a mean slice of cake and hot chocolate!

And some of them have a loo with a view to say the least!

My legs are so hairy they resemble alpine pastures apparently...

And there it was, the final descent into the valley ready for a last supper and to make a plan of attack for creative packing of 20kg of stuff in the 15kg Ryanair allowance... The icing on the cake, though, was that after 5 days of great weather, we woke on the Sunday ready to drive back to the airport to find torrential rain outside. Perfect!

And a VERY BIG thank you to Emilie for letting me take incessant photos all day every day in order to gather my largest selection of bum shots yet... ;-)