Colfosco and Pissadù ice fall

Colfosco ice falls are below the great vertical faces of Sassongher and Sass de la Crusc. What a spectacular environment for climbing ice falls!

The approach to the ice falls is only 30 minutes. It is actually a short time to enjoy the surrounding views. Every step you take the mountains around you reminds how small humans are. A good reminder for a humble attitude.

But the climbing is good too. During this time of the year the ice fall was still in a good condition which is not necessarily the case every spring. The Pissadù ice fall has 3 logical pitches which make a total of 90 meters of climbable ice. Grade is not too hard 3+ and it is in shadow for most of the day.

The nature of the climb is a small adventure in a deep valley. Enjoyable and easy to access makes this ice fall a good reason to visit Colfosco. Climbing ice in a place like this makes us humble. Mi piace!

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Colfosco and Pissadù ice fall, 21.3.2016

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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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