Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites: Vol 2. John Smith

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      Rif. Torre di Pisa (see BOLZ 1)

      August is an extremely busy month, when all Italians head for the beach or the mountains. On the plus side, all the summer lift services operate in August, as do the bus services. The downside is that the popular via ferratas will be very busy, and the cost of accommodation will be at its highest. Mountain rifugios are also busy, so a phone call to book beds in advance is advisable in high summer.

Travel to the Dolomites

      The quickest way to get to Italy is to fly, with Venice, Treviso, Bolzano, Verona, Brescia, Munich and Innsbruck all providing speedy access to the region. Budget operators currently fly into Venice, Treviso and Brescia. Bus services run from all airports into the Dolomites, but frequency is often poor, even non-existent on Sundays (see below, ‘Local Transport’).

      While cars can be hired at any airport, rates are cheaper in Germany, so the extra drive from Munich may be worthwhile if time allows. Although not essential for many of the popular via ferratas, a car is certainly very useful in getting around: dependence on public transport takes a sizeable chunk out of your climbing time. The European motorway network is now so good that it is possible to drive from the channel ports into the Dolomites in one long day, although most would choose to break their journey.

      The French and Italian motorways are tolled, while use of Austrian motorways requires a ‘vignette’ sticker (valid for 10 days, 2 months or 1 year), which can be bought at border filling stations/shops or at tabacs if entering Austria by non-motorway routes (see www.vignette.at/oe for current prices). The main road into Italy, the Brenner pass, involves an additional fee and can be chaotic in high season. Both the fee and the crowds can be avoided by using the old SS12 road, but that is windy and slow, as is the final part of the journey on the mountain roads of the Dolomites.

      Fast and reliable inter-city trains can be used to travel across Europe. However, as with flying, connecting travel into the mountains needs to be organised, which can eat into holiday schedules.

Accommodation

      There is a wide range of options, from the basic, such as camping or mountain rifugios, to the height of luxury. Amongst the most popular choices are self-catering apartments and meubles. The latter are (usually smaller) hotels that do not provide evening meals, but which are good value for money if you are content with a modest meal in a nearby pizzeria. All major towns, and even most small villages, have tourist information offices which will help you find accommodation, although you will usually have to make your booking direct with the place you want to stay.

      There is an extremely good network of rifugios throughout the Dolomites – some owned by the CAI and some privately owned. Most are well appointed and provide comfortable accommodation at reasonable prices, together with substantial meals of good quality. Sleeping arrangements usually involve dormitories, and whilst blankets are generally provided a sheet sleeping bag is required (although these can be hired at many of the larger rifugios). Washing facilities are provided, but these can be quite basic and hot water should not be expected. Information about opening times can be obtained from local tourist offices or from the CAI’s website, much of which is now translated into English (see www.cai.it). Bivouac huts are common in the more remote mountain areas, although these are little more than emergency shelters, with facilities limited to a few bunks and blankets. Use is on an honesty basis, but anyone planning an overnight stay should carry all their needs, including food and water.

      Italy has an excellent, albeit complicated, network of tourist information offices. The Italian State Tourist Board (ENIT) has offices in many capital cities, including London. The information they provide is often very attractive, but so general as to be of little practical help in planning your trip. It is better to contact the local tourist offices in the area you plan to visit. Under the umbrella of ENIT, a hierarchy of tourist offices is maintained at regional level, provincial level, and in most towns and villages in holiday areas. These offices are known either as APT (Azienda di Promozione Turistica) or EPT (Ente Provinciale Turismo). Towns or villages not included in the ENIT network often maintain their own information offices, known as Assessorato al Turismo. Just to confuse even further, you will also see ‘Ufficio Turistico’ signs, which may be the APT office anyway! An approach to any of these offices generally elicits a wealth of detailed material about matters such as accommodation, public transport and lifts in the area. Whilst most of the staff in the larger offices speak good English, this is not necessarily the case with some of the smaller offices. So if you make your enquiries by phone, prepare yourself with a few Italian phrases.

      Percorso Sass Brusai offers a good view of the normal descent path (BASAN 2)

      The following addresses and websites might prove useful.

       ENIT London office: Italian State Tourist Board, 1 Princess Street, London W1R 9AY, Tel. 0207 3551557/73551439 or website: www.enit.it

       Italian Tourist Web Guide: www.itwg.com.

      These sites contain a huge amount of practical information, including links to local tourist offices, although not all the pages on the ENIT site are in English.

Local Transport

      Public transport in Italy is generally good and cheap, and many of the routes described in this book can be accessed by bus. There are a number of major operators, with well-integrated timetables, serving the area, including Atesina, Dolomitibus and SAD. Check their timetables (see website addresses in Appendix 5) even if you have a car, as some routes involve extensive mountain traverses, which will deposit you some miles from where you started! Note, however, that the services of all bus operators are reduced considerably on the middle weekend of September.

      View north from eastern side of Passo Groste, the start of Sentiero Vidi and Sentiero Palete (BREN 10 СКАЧАТЬ