Any recommendations for via ferratas near Corvara?

I plan on climbing a via ferrata route solo on eith July 15th or 16th and I will be staying in Corvara. Any recommendations near Val Gardena or Sella Pass? I lead around 5.10 a-c and multipitch trad climb at 5.7 so far. I have some decent mountaineering experience from summiting exposed peaks. I looking for something with decent exposure that would be equal to a class 3-4  climbing or low 5's.

I am considering Brigata Tridentina and going for an early start if I can avoid the crowds. I have a car rental so I am willing to travel beyond the immediate area.  That last thing I want to do is something too easy, or be stuck in a line of climbers.

Any info would be great.

Do this one first if you can get over there.  It's a little drive from Sella.  Via Ferrata Giovanni Lipella, Tofana di Rozes 3225m

Or,  The Possnecker on Sella Pass as a second choice.

Do try and get to Tofana di Rozes though....

Via Ferrata Giovanni Lipella looks pretty great!  The descent is going back down the same route, correct?

I second the Giovanni Lipella. Or Punta Anna, but that one starts closer to Cortina above the World Cup Lady's Downhill Start.

Tridentina is Great. It was my first VF. I had for years an issue with VF and thought they were for weak gumbys. I matured past that and tried that one on my last trip and had a blast. It will feel easy compared to a 5.7 alpine route, but has great exposure and is nice and long and you will be able to move fast if you avoid the crowds. I never thought I would climb a face like that with my wife in an hour and a half. There were moderate crowds when we were up and we passed many people easily. The bridge at the top is great, and for me (I get spooked by man-made heights: towers, chairlifts, ferris wheels, suspension bridges, etc.), got my heart beating.

I have not done Tofana, but my wife did and says it was one of the best days she has had in the mountains.

I think there was a good one to the north of Val gardena but I hear it has been removed.

Try the guidebook "Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites" Vol 1 North, Central and East, by John Smith and Graham Fletcher.  publisher is www.cicerone.co.uk

Brigata Tridentia is great !

 

For actual climbing routes, try "Classic Dolomite Climbs" by Anette Kohler and Norbert Memmel. Near Val Gardenia we did Torre Firenze North-West Arete...About 10-12 pitches, mostly less-than-5.5 with one or two moves of 5.6-5.7.

 

Robert Hall wrote: Try the guidebook "Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites" Vol 1 North, Central and East, by John Smith and Graham Fletcher.  publisher is www.cicerone.co.uk

Brigata Tridentia is great !

 

For actual climbing routes, try "Classic Dolomite Climbs" by Anette Kohler and Norbert Memmel. Near Val Gardenia we did Torre Firenze North-West Arete...About 10-12 pitches, mostly less-than-5.5 with one or two moves of 5.6-5.7.

 

Here is the direct link to the book mentioned above, looks like a blast! 

https://www.cicerone.co.uk/via-ferratas-of-the-italian-dolomites-volume-1​​​

@Robert,
Are those both pics of Brigata Tridenta?  
That link is to a book by James Rushforth, who also published "The Dolomites ROck Climbs and Via Ferrata" published by Rockfax. I have that book.  I'm skipping climbing routes and the gear since I'm mostly going on a leisurely vacation.  

@Kirk,  How would you compare the difficulty of Punta Anna?  It's rated a 5C in my guidebook, but I'm not sure what that converts to compared to mountaineering the Yosemite Decimal System.

there is a revised version of Vol 1, more accurate and current   https://www.amazon.com/Via-Ferratas-Italian-Dolomites-central-ebook/dp/B07CM3H8L3/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530671261&sr=8-1&keywords=james+rushforth.

I did one 5C VF, the Cesare Piazetta on Biz Boe.  felt like 5.7 using the cable at the crux traverse.

1st pic is on Tridentia,   2nd pic is on the Torre Firenze North-West Arete , about 1/3 of the way up.  

Ethan Ayer wrote: @Kirk,  How would you compare the difficulty of Punta Anna?  It's rated a 5C in my guidebook, but I'm not sure what that converts to compared to mountaineering the Yosemite Decimal System.

Good question, probably YDS 5.8 or soft 5.9. VF ratings seem to be fairly conservative. I did Punta Anna with my 68 year old brother who is athletic but not a climber. Given the published difficulty rating, and the fact that this was his first VF, I was concerned that he'd be in over his head, but with the owner of the climbing shop in Cortina that rented us our VF equipment highly recommending the route,  he chose it. Punta Anna, also known as Ferrata Giuseppi Oliveri, is said to be fairly vertical, as VF go, but is newly equipped and has only one section that my brother found pumpy. In retrospect, I might have brought 30 meters of six mm, but he pulled through and delighted in the climb. As will all Dolomiti VF, the views are stellar, so try to go with a clear sky and spend a night at the CAI Refugio Giussani. And, for sure, rent a hard hat and screamer set.

Robert Hall wrote: Try the guidebook "Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites" Vol 1 North, Central and East, by John Smith and Graham Fletcher.  publisher is www.cicerone.co.uk

The guidebook from AlpenVerlag is completely superior.

And their guidebook for via ferratas in Austria (including southern Germany) is almost more important, since arguably the best Via Ferrata routes are now in Austria.

Ken

Ethan Ayer wrote:I am considering Brigata Tridentina and going for an early start if I can avoid the crowds

I like climbing "free" on a Via Ferrata route, with my hands and feet directly on the rock . . . only clipping the steel cable for Protection, not grabbing it for Aid. I do that lots and lots days, not only in the Dolomites but all over Italy and France, on VF routes in the valleys as well as the mountains.

VF Brigata Tridentina (Pisciadu klettersteig) could be a nice introduction to climbing free on a via ferrata. I think I'm remembering that the whole thing goes free with no moves harder than 5.6 (or is it less, say 5.3?), and much is 3rd and 4th class.

If find you like that, you could someday try other VF routes with segments sustained 5.8, even short sequences free at 5.10. But need to stay well within your capability, since actually falling while correctly using a normal VF kit in the normal way is usually a very bad idea, could easily result in serious injury requiring helicopter rescue.
. . . (so I use a special VF kit and other tricks for trying harder segments and routes).

Tridentina is (understandably) about the most crowded VF route I've ever done. One strategy I used to deal with the crowd was sometimes to disconnect from the cable and climb free solo a few feet off to one side of the cable. Go much faster, also discover the enormous difference of unpolished limestone. Key danger is that if a hold breaks (which surely can happen with limestone, especially sections not climber much), I'm dead. Best to temper the speed and freedom with careful testing.

Ken

Ethan Ayer wrote:book by James Rushforth

Wow . . . that's a very new Via Ferrata guidebook I did not know about.

Rushforth also wrote the English-language RockFax guidebook for roped climbing in the Dolomites - (surely superior to that outdated climbing guidebook mentioned earlier in this thread -- whose outdated topo once got my partner and I off-route on a famous popular Dolomites multi-pitch).

Hopefully Rushforth for his new VF guidebook has incorporated some of the latest best info (and style and graphics) from the German-language guidebooks, rather than relying on that old-school English-language one that lots of Americans are still using.

Ken

Kenr wrote" VF Brigata Tridentina (Pisciadu klettersteig) could be a nice introduction to climbing free on a via ferrata. I think I'm remembering that the whole thing goes free with no moves harder than 5.6 (or is it less, say 5.3?), and much is 3rd and 4th class. "   Agree!!!  However, my recollection is that there might have been a low-class- 5-rated move (5.3-5.4?) down low ("P1" ? ) but that it was all mostly Class 3/4, and that at the top there's a wonderful "hut" where you can get a cold beer and lunch on the terrace, and the hike down was a graded path. (Which, of course, means there'll be lots of hikers ordering beers with you! )  

Yes that sounds about right for Tridentina.
If you think of the crowds as part of the "scenery" (and can enjoy passing them with some careful free-soloing off to the side), the only negative about the route is the lower half of the descent -- on loose non-fun scree and talus.
. . . (Much of the upper part of the descent allows me to "batman" down the cable, which I mostly enjoy).
Sharon's knees are not good for difficult descents, so she will make an early exit West onto a hiking trail to the Groednerjoch / Passo Gardena. I will continue all the way to VF Parking, then drive to pick her up.

For many VF in the Dolomites (and elsewhere Italy - Austria - France) . . . can find my estimates of "free" climbing difficulty grade, GPS lat long for parking and climb-start, other remarks and tricks . . . by doing a web search on
* via ferrata name_of_route kenr
* VF name_of_route kenr
* VF name_of_route site:roberts-1.com

For the Dolomites there are many careful English-language descriptions and photos by a visiting Canadian lover of VF on www.alavigne.net.

Not clear that the English-language guidebooks (before 2018?) add much to what's public on the web for popular VF routes in the Dolomites.
. . . (But the AlpinVerlag guidebook is at a different level).

Neverlheless (ever hopeful) I just ordered the new 2018 Rushforth VF-specific guidebook from amazon.co.uk ... (with the addition of two other UK-available climbing guidebooks for Europe) ... and the cost of international shipping thru Amazon does not seem outrageous.

Ken

Robert Hall wrote: VF Brigata Tridentina  my recollection is that there might have been a low-class- 5-rated move (5.3-5.4?) down low ("P1" ? ) but that it was all mostly Class 3/4

For those who want more difficult "free" climbing on VF in driving range of Corvara, like say ...

* finishing to the summit with two pitches 5.8-5.9 sustained dihedral
* bigger wider higher mountain views
* less crowded
* combine with interesting pretty loop trail-run / hike
* option to ride mechanical lift down to Parking (or instead go down a unique Worle War I VF route inside the mountain).

- - > VF Cesco Tomaselli

Alas there's been so often rain and snow when I"ve been visiting the last few years, I haven't been able to do it in a long time. Hopefully this September.

Fortunately there's so many VF routes with interesting free climbing outside the Dolomites nowadays, I'm doing just fine anyway.

Ken

Lipella descent goes over the top of the peak and down a regular hiking trail.  You do not reverse the route.  

The real gem of the descent is the hut that serves great food and cold beer that you pass shortly after the summit.  Too cool!

A lot of rain and t storms in the forecast next in Corvara. If this stays accurate, I may have to go for a more moderate route so I feel safer during bad weather. Of course I will only go if there is a forecasted break in weather. Hopefully this would dissuade the normal crowds.

Feeling safer and dissuading the normal crowds will not help if you get electrocuted by that _long_ conductive steel cable acting according to its expected physics as a lightning-attractor.
I am not aware that this physical attraction is lessened if the cable is on a less-difficult route.

I note that VF Tridentina is N-facing and parts are shaded, so not quick to dry out (esp if it snows). And that making an early start to beat the afternoon lightning storm could be seriously cold. And grabbing a steel cable with bare hands is not likely to warm your fingers.

Consider also that there are wonderful low-altitude VF routes with lots of interesting "free" climbing sequences, once get past the mystique of "The Dolomites". (and use guidebooks other than RockFax).

Easier to switch to those valley routes (or a fun cross-cultural indoor gym experience or remarkably convenient outdoor low-altitude non-raining non-cold Sport-climbing "klettergarten") if based in Ortisei / St Ulrich or Wolkenstein on the margins of the pretty peaks, rather than Corvara in the "heart".

Ken