Something feels like it’s missing this summer- Last summer after my Denali expedition I was on a plane to Italy to climb in the Dolomites with Jim Gilchrist, Jerry Willis and Brian Nolastname within days of getting off of the snow. It seemed like just what the doctor had ordered to recover from a glaciated peak. Jim in particular had been making trips to the Dolomites since 300 BC. Let’s just say he knows every classic route like the back of his hand. His objective was simple- “I’ve done all the classics and want to do modern routes.” I had no objection except that Air Canada had lost my baggage and I was left standing in Colfosco, Italy jet lagged with nothing but a pair of nylon pants, a t- shirt, and my climbing helmet. Not standard issue for an Italian climbing trip.
The first several days were rough. I was weak from Denali. I had a rented via ferrata harness, a onesie BD belay device (why do they even make these?), and the cheapest climbing shoes that a handful of euros could buy. We started on a Massimo Da Pozzo route called Primo Spigolo on the Tofana Di Rozes. The route redefined my definition of runout. Jim and I lowered feeling defeated, realizing that it was only Italian multi pitch climbing day one.
We drove back to town licking our wounds. Every trad climbers want to be a hardman. We felt like big pieces of dookey. The nice thing about getting spanked in the Dolomites is the drive back to town is a flash of winding roads and breathtaking landscapes. It was simply the most stunning scenery I have ever seen. Within an hour of getting off the rock you can be in town eating decent Italian food and drink away your sorrows with guide book open, making grand climbing plans for the next day.
By the next day, I had shaken off some of the jet lag and accepted my marginal gear and the fact that the Italian counterparts for Canadian Air were in no rush to get me my luggage. For the next week and a half it was like we were on a mission. Almost 100 pitches went down in just a handful of days.
The routes in the Dolomites have a legendary historical feel; maybe a little too antiquated at times. At times you are hanging on a nest of pins with a single 4mm piece of cord tied through the petons with an overhand knot. Italians don’t seem concerned or committed to anchor replacement.
One highlight of my trip was climbing the Costantini- Apollonio that was put up by two gentleman in 1944. The approach starts at the Rifugio Dibona and within an hour you are at the base of a 20 Pitch route that goes free at 7a. Angela Dibona and his early 1900 mountaineering counterparts are worshipped like gods in Cortina. There is a bronze statue of Dibona smack dab in the middle of town.
After endless engaging pitches of limestone protected by gear, pins, bolts, threads and chunks of wood wedged into cracks, it is only a 1.5 hour walk back to the Rifugio through ruins from World War I. Before the sun has time to go down, you can be sitting on the Rifugio Dibona porch getting blown away by a phenomenal Dolomite vistas and homemade pasta.
Check out: http://www.planetmountain.com/english/rock/dolomites/itineraries/scheda.php?lang=eng&id_itinerario=275&id_tipologia=38
