Santa Cristina and Cascata Tervela

Today's new ice fall to discover is in Val Gardena and Santa Cristina. Cascata Tarvela is a true drive in ice fall. Walk from the parking to the ice fall takes only 5-10 minutes. 

Great ice fall that is quite easy to see from the city. It offers 1-2 pitch climbs on a varying grade from WI3 to WI4+. It is an ideal place to get used to the Dolomite ice and for the days when you don't want to take the long approaches.

The view over the city of Santa Cristine is also splendid during the spring. The opposite side of the city is almost clean form the snow while you can still climb on a ice fall. Big contrast!

For us the day at the Cascata Tervela offered a good opportunity to climb several single pitch climbs and get prepared for the next multi pitch. Good day and a great reason to see Santa Cristina.

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Santa Cristina and Cascata Tervela, 19.3.2016

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Serrai di Sottoguda

Finally we got back to Italy and this time for a winter holiday. Early spring in the Dolomites is not necessarily the best season for ice climbing or skiing on powder but as usual we got lucky. During the last weeks the weather has been great and it has been snowing some fresh powder too.

Our 1st target was to go to Serrai di Sottoguda which is a perfect place for easy to approach ice climbing. It is probably the most visited site in the region too. We started our trip with guide friend Alessandro from Mountime to get our skills polished and to gain some knowledge from the local ice falls and their conditions at this time of a year.

Deep valley at Serrai di Sottoguda is nicely in the shadows. This shady valley lets the ice falls last longer during the sping and gives an opportunity to climb relatively safely even during mid March. Some of the routes like Excalibur starts on top of a small creek but even then the access of the routes is super easy.

Valley has a nice set of different ice falls in length and difficulties. During the climbing it is a good to remember that the path at the valley is also a popular skiing path so beware of skiers. Over the day we got lots of skiers watching our climbs and they even wanted to take photos with us. I didn't knew that few amateur ice climbers and a guide can attract more than 15 people just watching!

During the first day we climbed several single pitches and 3 pitches of la Diagonale and 1st 40 meter pitch of the Excalibur. It was also nice to see that most of the routes have also bolted anchors.

Skiers looking at the climbers!

Mika's WI4 top pitch at the Diagonale

Climber's view on WI4 top pitch at the Diagonale

Top view over the canyon.

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Serrai di Sottoguda,15.3.2016

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Breathtaking views from Sentiero Gustavo Vidi

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Looking for a breathtaking day trek at the Brenta Dolomites? Well we have an excellent proposal or you. Go to Madonna di Campiglio and take the two-stage gondola up to Rifugio Stoppani and head towards Sentiero Gustavo Vidi.

Sentiero Gustavo Vidi can be counted as a very easy via ferrata but in real life it is more of a mountain walk with some protected sections. But don't let that fool you. Sentiero has a lot to offer on great heights at 2660 meters.

What makes this route quick is the fast gondola access directly from Madonna di Campiglio up to the Passo del Groste. It is a good idea to prepare schedules so that you are heading up before the siesta between 12-14 and be back at the middle gondola station before 17:00 when they close the line.

Route starts at 200 meters north-east from the Rifugio Stoppani where is a clear sign pointing towards the beginning of the trail. Trail ascents about 250 meters and descents down to the Groste middle station about 500 meters in about 3-4 hours.  During the walk there is about 500 meters of ferrata cables.

Route itself offers a good way to get used to the heights at mountains and trekking on the ridges. On some parts the route is narrow with steep walls on the sides and thus requires careful walking.

Sentiero Gustavo Vidi is a perfect way to get an overview of the spectacular Dolomite mountains even for ferrata beginners. For experienced ferrata trekkers or climbers the route is very easy but just the spectacular surroundings justify to complete the route. During the early summer few parts of the route might go cross snowy or icy sections and it is a good idea to check the status of the route if you are heading there during the early summer. And as usual at the the mountains weather conditions should be good before attempting this one. Recommended, one of the best experiences you can have during a day visit at the Brenta Dolomites.

Ferrata grade: 5/5
Route quality: 5/5
Security: 3/5
Surroundings/views: 5/5
Approach: 5/5
Exit: 5/5

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Sentiero Gustavo Vidi, Madonna di Campiglio, 5.7.2015

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Dolomitic limestone at Molveno

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Our journey to find shady crags good quality rock to climb carries on. So far we have been lucky with our picks and most of the carefully selected crags have been enjoyable. Today's pick was Molveno S. Antonio nearby the Brenta Dolomites a crag that is dedicated to the memory of local alpinist Luca Sartori.

Molveno is an east facing crag taking 50 minutes from Arco by car. It is located at a high altitude of a
900 meters above sea level so it is well climbable during hot summer days. It is one of the alpinist style of crags like Coltura and Croz de la Niere. You can almost taste the golden age of alpinism at Molveno where Brenta Dolomites are dominating the skyline.

When it comes to the climbing Molveno the limestone is more compact and Dolomite's style here. Crag looks good on paper. Total of 47 lines starting from 4 and going up to 7c and most of the lines are more than 20 meters long.

Rock face looks actually good and the styles of the line have definitely some character. But then the downside. It looks like that all the local climbers and growing young alpinists have been training a lot here. Many lines were polished from the beginning thou there were also better quality lines. And at the same time bolting was distant in most of the lines. Distant bolting on a slippery rock makes the 1st few clips hard on some of the routes.

Not an easy crag due the distant bolting and polished rock. Sad because crag has great potential to be interesting challenge. It is not a must place to visit but if you happen to be nearby or just want to get a shady crag then you may want to check it out.

Crag grade: 3/5
Rock quality: 3/5
Bolting: 3/5
Surroundings: 5/5
Approach: 4/5

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Molveno S. Antonio, 28.6.2015

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