Dolomites 2018 #4 - Col Rosa and Cortina

Getting from Passo Giau to Cortina required no gas... the car just basically rolled down the road. We were treated to an absolute bluebird day, so we opted to climb the Ettore Bovero via ferrata to Col Rosa, a small (but isolated) peak that had 360 views to the Cortina valley and surrounding mountain ranges. This was a fun 3B route that basically went straight up the left side of the ridge in the first photo below. The descent was an absolute beatout, dropping over 2500 feet in less than 2 miles.

After finishing we dropped our stuff at Hotel Regina then rented bikes for a couple hours and rode out and back on the old railroad which has been converted into a beautiful rail trail. We capped off the day with dinner outside on the main square in Cortina, and fully realized how lucky we were to be doing what we were doing!

Home for the next two nights...

With decent balcony views...

Renting bikes once again proved to be the best 10 euros we could spend.

Dolomites 2018 #3 - Croda da Lago and Passo Giau

We left Alleghe in the morning and headed to nearby Passo Giau, where we were spending the night at the hotel at the top of the pass. With good weather in the forecast (again), we decided to hike the Croda da Lago loop that we wanted to do in 2016 but got rained out. Our hiking book ( Shorter Walks in the Dolomites ) suggested a loop that we followed and it was really great. The part after the lake was definitely the best part of the loop.

That book I linked above has proven to be useful. The "shorter" walks are mostly in the half day to full day range, and a lot of them are loops, so we've used it extensively in our two trips to the Dolomites.

The other necessary guidebooks if you are into via ferrata are:

Via Ferrata of the Italian Dolomites: Volume 1 - Volume 2

Back to Croda da Lago...

After finishing the hike we went back up to our hotel and enjoyed dinner and a beautiful evening at the top of the pass.

Not that I ever want to be inside, but our bedroom view was pretty good.

Dolomites 2018 #2 - Via Delle Trincee and Alleghe

After 3 nights in Canazei we headed to Lake Alleghe, where we were spending one night and along the way we stopped and climbed the Via Delle Trincee via ferrata route, on the ridgeline just across the valley from Marmolada. We ran through this area in the race two days before, and I knew at the time we had to go back. Fortunately one of the best ferrata routes in the area was right there, and we were able to loop a nice hike with a 4B ferrata and had excellent weather for the whole thing (necessary due to the exposed nature of this route). This one really had it all - hard climbing, cool bridges, tunnels, etc. Just awesome and everything that you want when you go to the Dolomites!

That night we stayed at a hotel on the lake in Alleghe. The next morning we rode around the lake and along the river.

Dolomites 2018 #1 - Canazei, Sellaronda Ultratrail, Sella Pass

Canazei was a great choice for our first stop of the trip. Its a small (but not too small) town near Sella Pass, with tons of hiking and via ferrata options nearby. Passo Sella and the Val Gardena area is probably the most beautiful area in the Dolomites, and I'd be willing to argue about that for hours (mainly so I could just talk about it for hours).

Back in January we realized the Sellaronda Ultratrail was happening the day after we arrived. The course looked beautiful - a perfect circumnavigation around the Sella Massif, over four mountain passes and through four amazing little towns. So we signed up thinking it would motivate us (as the skiing was bad at that time). Then the skiing got good and we kinda forgot about it for several months. Around the beginning of June we got more serious about training and stung together six pretty good weeks to get ready for Sellaronda (not an easy course: 38 miles with 12,000 feet of climbing). It all came together nicely - a thunderstorm pushed the start back from 5am to 5:30am and then we had a wonderful day for the race. I finished in 12th place and Andrea took 3rd in what she says was her first and last ultra race! We both did a good job with the 12,000 feet of uphill and got demolished on the 12,000 feet of corresponding downhill.

The day after the race we needed to take it easy, but wanted to go back to Passo Sella and take in the views at a slower pace. We drive up and wandered around very slowly for a couple hours, stopping to sit and eat every 5 minutes. In the afternoon we rented bikes for a few hours and cruised around the valley bike paths, then sat out in the town square while the world cup final was broadcast (the locals were not rooting for France!).