Via Ferrata in the Dolomites#
15th June 2026
I’d tried to go to the Dolomites last year and after an invite to go and do via ferrata this year I cancelled work and jumped at the chance.
We were flying to Verona and there were flight controller strikes and Italy wide EasyJet staff strikes but Italian law states that flights should fly and land early morning. That didn’t stop EasyJet cancelling my flight the evening before it was due, with no reason given and no mention of how much the refund was, or any help on the best alternative to fly to. Bar Stewards. I lost my Manchester airport car park booking because I’d booked the cheapest option (no cancelling or moving), late thinking that EasyJet would have not cancel that late. Could have been worse, John Abslon had his flight cancelled after he went through security.
In the end I got a Ryan Air flight to Venice with Simon Treddnick and arrived there Sunday instead of Saturday, and a bus to Cortina. A long day but it worked. Simon Gannon and Ian Stubbs had arrived on the original day and they picked is up from the bus station.
Monday 15th June 2026
Via Ferrata Ettore Bovero 10.5km, 900vm, Grade 3b, 5hrs
We’d turned up two weeks too early, the lifts were closed and there was still snow on the highest routes. The local guides suggested 5 suitable routes so we chose a friendly intro and set off.
I was used to French via ferratas that had stemples to climb and cables to clip into. Here it seemed that you could have stemples or cables but not both. Consequently it felt closer to climbing that via ferrata at times. Italy is notorious for a lack of building regulations and collapsing bridges. This route only had two badly fraying sections!
On the summit there were some WW1 trenches and gun emplacements. I’d recently listened to a podcast about the fighting in this area and it sounded horrible. Hundreds of thousands dead, freezing to death in winter, finding cover in barren limestone with little soil cover. Apparently the Italians only entered the war to gain land whereas everyone elsewas fighting for some sort of principle.
Overall an enjoyable route; nothing extreme, a bit of a tedious walk-in, finished off with a bit of history and a pleasant walk off.
We had an amble round Cortina. It’s a nice place, a bit posh with lots of expensive fashion shops.
16th June 2026 Via Ferrata Michielli Strobel
8km, 950vm, grade 3b, 5hrs.
Not too hot, a lot in the shade, easy short approach and lots of good via ferrata and views and a cracking scree descent to finish. Much better than yesterday, including the tiramisu cheesecake in the bar.
Ian has some strict ethics about via ferrata: only one hand on the cable and definitely no standing on bolts. Everyone else just did whatever was easiest and quickest, as any normal person would. He was out voted 4 to 1.
Wednesday 17th June Via Ferrata Punta Anna 5.7km, grade 5c, 4.5hrs, total ascent 700m
This was the big one in the area and really popular. We couldn’t do it all (7hrs, 1200m ascent) because the lifts weren’t open for the descent and there was still snow and ice on the upper sections but what we did was great. The views were the best yet, right up in typical Dolomites terrain. The via ferrata itself was quite burley in places, lots of laybacking up blank rock whilst pulling like crazy on the cables.
The terrain was incredible, acres of rock everywhere, most of it covered in debris. Even the scree descent was awesome, much easier than yesterday’s for some reason.
We’d expected 4hrs on the wire before we had to descend and this put off Ian & Tredders. They were both fatigued and didn’t fancy 4hrs at altitude. In the end it took just over 2hrs on the wire. Found another great cheesecake in the Refugio Dibona. The waitresses were hilarious. Me and Simon ordered cheesecake and Simon asked if it was a large portion and the waitress said for her it wasn’t. After a cheeky comment from me about Simon she looked at Simon, looked at his stomach, paused and said it’d be too small for him.
We also bought some local t-shirts at the Refugio and persuaded the waitress to pretend there weren’t any large enough options when the others came in for a T-shirt. She actually did it!
Would definitely like to go back when the lifts are running and do the full thing.
Thursday 18th June Sentiero Attrezzato Galleria del Lagazuoi
A technically easy but historically fascinating trip through the WW1 tunnels built by the Italians into Monte Lagazuoi in 1917.
An easy walk up, except for the altitude, and then soon onto the 1a graded via Ferrata. It’s basically a path with a bit of exposure, kit isn’t really required. This leads to the Martini Ledge where the Italians dug numerous tunnels so that they could blow the top of the mountain off. By this time the Austrians had realised what was going to happen and left. You can still see the scar at the top of the cliff and the debris at the bottom, as well as the bit of mountain that the Austrians blew up.
The meat of the route are the tunnels (700m of ascent?) that ascend all the way to the summit. They are impressively big, tall enough to not need to stoop and wide enough for two people. There are windows every so often, some for machine guns, some for artillery, all for chucking the mining debris out, as well as side passages for ammunition, housing and whatever else they needed. Not sure where the loos where. They fought on these hills for two years, through freezing winters, and lost 100’s of thousands of people on both sides. Madness.
It’s a great trip, really worth doing. We were originally going to get the cable car down but after drinks in the bar we decided to follow a via ferrata down, basically another steep path with the occasional wire. At the bottom you can see the bits of the mountain that they blew up.
Friday 19th June Via Ferrata degli Alpini al Col dei Bois 5.5km, grade 3b, wire length 350m
A superb route. An easy walk-in, a tough steep start and then cable all the way to the summit. Stunning views all the way up and if you start early morning you’re in the shade for most of it. And it’s relatively new so it’s in good condition.
