More fresh snow at Val di Fassa and Belvedere - Passo Pordoi

Val di Fassa seems to have a great spring this year. While the snow dumps have been slowing up our ice climbing the snowboarding has been a pure joy. Of course some of the easy off pistes have been skied so that there is nothing left, but there was still plenty for us too.

Today we had the most spectacular view over Dolomites. The highest peak at the nearby area is he Sass Pordoi, 2950 meters. It is accessible via cable car and can be skied down. Magnificent views! A worthwhile Refugio to visit and have a coffee.

After all we got a pretty good impression of the Val di Fassa. Of course if you are hunting for lots of black slopes then this is not the best choice. But for the regular skiers, snowboarders or off piste skiers Val di Fassa has a lot to offer.

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Val di Fassa and Belvedere - Passo Pordoi, 20.3.2016

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Fresh snow at Val di Fassa - Ciampac - Buffaure

Spring and fresh snow is not a guaranteed combination in the southern alps and Dolomites. But for some reason we have been lucky with the snow conditions for several times in a row. Our first snowboarding day at the Val di Fassa was blessed with good snow and a perfect weather to enjoy it! 

Val di Fassa is part of the huge Dolomite Super Ski resort but it is a nice and a big resort as is! Resort offers enough pistes for a 4-6 days of skiing or snowboarding.

The skiing resorts at the Dolomite mountains seem to share the same slope characteristics. Lots of good red lines and just few black ones with plenty of easy access off piste skiing for all skill levels. And the facilities in general are very good starting from the beginner slopes, snow parks and ending up to the lifts and restaurants.The specialty at the Dolomite Super Ski is the six days ski tour over the Dolomite mountains or if that is too long then you can always take the one day tour over the Val di Fassa.

We didn't took the ski tour today but instead of that we found lots of easy to access off-piste routes with untouched snow. Great day in a beautiful mountain scenery!

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Val di Fassa and Ciampac - Buffaure, 17.3.2016

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Cascata di Fontanazzo di destra - ice screw tested!

Time for an ice fall multi-pitch climb. Our target was in just behind of the small village Fontnazzo - Cascata di Fontanazzo di destra or Bus de Tone as locals call it. Climb follows a small creek that that connects a sequence of 5 ice falls into a nice multi-pitch graded WI4.

 Approach to the climb takes about 30 minutes from the parking just next to the little bridge near a kids playground just behind Fontanazzo village. Right spot is easy to recognize because the alternative climb Cascata di Fontanazzo di sinistra shows on the forest face.

Approach was slightly harder due the fresh snow but nothing overwhelming there. This time of the year the first pitch started from an open creek so getting wet would have been easy.

The 250 meter long route is mostly WI3 and only the last pitch is getting harder. But it does not mean that it is a walk in the park. The amount of snow was the hardest part and opening the ice was energy consuming duty for the leader.

The fresh snow was also causing the first serious danger during our winter holiday. On the 1st pitch the snow packed so that the grip to the ice was partially lost when screwing the second protection. The axe and crampons failed at a same time. That caused an upside down fall towards the creek. Luckily the screw hold and the bones and muscles did not got any hits from axe or screws! Ice climb leader must not fall!

Rest of the route went without any "close call" situations and we were able to enjoy the dolomite winter on its best!

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Cascata di Fontanazzo di destra, 16.3.2016

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