6 days in the Dolomites

[SEREvince]

I have a ton of pics, I'll try and post them up ASAP. I just got back to work, so this thread will be a slow process. If you have any questions please post them up, it may help jog my memory!

Route:

Day 1 5 Torre- Citta di Fiume

Day 2Citta' di Fiume -Tissi

Day 3Tissi - Carestiato

Day 4 via Ferrate "Constantini"

Day 5 Carestiato- Pian de Fontana

Day 6 Pian de Fontana - Algordino (Bus Stop)

Pack weight at start: 29lbs with food and 2.5L of water

Gear:
Granite Gear Meridian Vapor pack w/ cover
Camelbak 100oz bladder
Big Agnes Yampa sleeping bag
Big Agnes Insulated Air core sleeping pad
Peztl Elios Helmet
Metoulius Harness
via Ferrate kit
Ti cookit w/Ti spork
Coleman F1 stove w/ 4 oz MSR fuel
Med/survival/ repair kit
MSR Pack towel
Clothes*
Food*
OR "packlite" Goretex jacket and pants
Down vest
Peztl Tactikka Plus headlamp
iPod Shuffle
Komperdell Alpinista trekking poles

Misc.

Hand sanitizer
SPF 50 Sun block
Microfiber hand towel (worn on shoulder strap for sweat duties)
TP
Camera
Suunto Vector watch

Clothes:

Trail:
OR Sunrunner hat
Under Armor boxer briefs
ExOfficio "BugOFF" convertable pants
Synthetic running shirt (Adidas I think?)
Columbia hiking socks

In Pack:
Patagonia midweight thermals (top/bottom)
Nike running shorts
UA Tshirt
2 pair UA underwear
2 pair running socks (worn together)
Columbia hiking socks

I washed my trail clothes every night and wore my pack clothes at night. My trail clothes were almost always dry the next day. The rifugios all provide slippers for wear inside.

Shoes:

There was contraversy amongst the group here. I chose to wear La Sportiva Wildcat trail runners. 1 person went with trail runners that had gortex and the other 2 went with traditional hiking boots (both Asolo I think).

My thoughts on shoes changed hourly depending on trail conditions. We had a ton of loose rock/ scree, snow fields, muddy livestock trails and a little bit of scrambling thrown in for fun. In the snow and muck I was unhappy. But each morning when I put on my completely dry shoes I was pretty stoked. The next time, I would look for something between a hiker/ trail runner and add some short gaiters for the snow. A stiffer sole and a little more toe protection would have been great in the rocks. That being said I did not experience a single blister or any foot pain other than minor bruising of my pinky toe when I kicked a rock crossing a scree field.

Food:
The best part of hiking/climbing here is the rifugios! Alpine Club members general pay about 35 Euro for half pension. Thats generally a 2-3 course dinner, breakfast and a bed for the night! Some of the food was just "good" and some was incredible! Breakfast was pretty typical european fare of bread and jam. Dinner was a hearty soup or pasta dish, followed by a meat dish and side and if you were lucky a desert! Wine and beer was also avialable for a reasonable price. We were probably consuming 3-5k in calories just from the rifugios. If you wanted to you could easily plan your trip to eat lunch at a rifugio as well.

Carried food:
2-3 protein/ energy bars per day
A gallon bag of trail mix (I used this to fill a smaller bag that was easily accesible)
dried apricots
1 freeze dried meal (back up in case we had to bivy a night)
Camelbak electrolyte tabs 1 regular and 1 with caffiene.

I brought a variety of energy bars and consumed them on the trail. We averaged about 8hrs of walking a day at a pretty good pace. We rarely stopped for a break longer than a minute or two to snap some pics. My favorite bars were; Detour, Balance Bar; Optimum Energy and Muscle Milk. They pretty much all held up great and tasted like candy bars. The Balance Bar was the only on that showed any signs of melting.

Trail Mix Recipe:
Equal parts

Craisens
Golden raisens
Wasabi peas
Almonds
Peanuts
Honey Teddy Grahams

I thought my mix was a good mix of salty and sweet and held up very well. A couple of the other guys added more dried fruit or chocolate bits and ended up with congealed messes.

In the end I had about 1/2 days food left. I thought that was a good amount for a reserve in case of a problem.

 

[SEREvince]

All of my gear performed exceptionally well. I was trying for a weight between 20-25lbs. I ended up at 29 and thought it was very managable. My helmet, harness and via ferrate added around 3lbs (included in the total).

My trekking poles were a LIFESAVER! Figuratively and literally, I was nowhere near in the shape I should have been especially considering the company I was in. The poles help carry the load on the steep stuff and kept me upright on the unstable/ slippery stuff.

I did use a pole to self arrest while crossing a huge snow field prior to Tissi. I had stowed one and collapsed the other one. The shorted one was used to arrest my fall. There was a high and low trail in the snowfield and we split 2 and 2. I went high and eventually determined that we need to be low. I started out in a controlled glissade, that turned into a "controlled" slide. I ended up on the lower path with out incident. But it was an eye opener on how fast you could pick up speed. I kicked free a pumpkin sized rock during my slide that continued into the rockfield at the run out. Had I not stopped, it could of been very ugly. It really made me very cautious on snowfields after that. Especially considering some of the fields ended in a 2000+ ft drop. :Wow1:
One in particular had me focused on the 6" in front of my foot, 1 step at a time! "Nervous" might be a slight understatement! I later ended up bending the end of one of the poles in a minor slip in a snow field. I never tried to straighten it and it held the rest of the trip.

The only shortfall I found in my gear was water purification. I generally carry a method or two. But I ASSuMEd that the water at the rifugios would be potable. That was not the case and we had to share and ration tabs or buy spendy bottled water. I consumed an average of 5L per day during the trip.

 

[SEREvince]

via Ferrate

via Ferrate or "Iron Way" came out of WWI as a way to move troops an supplies in the mountains. It's a rock climbing with a cable anchored as protection instead of a rope. Sometimes there are ladders or steps as well.

We decided to try one of the toughest routes, with a 2500ft ascent as our first go. At the time I thought "hmm.. maybe not the best plan". We had two experienced climbers and we all have some climbing experience, so pride got the better of me.

Using no technique and "muscling" every move left me completely smoked at about the 1300ft mark. I contemplated just chilling and waiting it out were I was but decided to press on. At the 2k mark I knew I was done. I had only consumed about 600 calories that day and I hit the wall. I had to rest before any major moves and a couple of spots required 3-4 move strings. I was going to wait it out, but from there it got pretty rough so one of the other guys decided it was beyond his skill and we turned around together and down climbed back to the start. ( The other team was turned back about 2hrs later by snow covering the route and had to cross the top during a storm).

My lack proper physical conditioning really showed that day and combined with the failure to consume enough fuel left me feeling pretty "slow" mentally and physically. I just focused on each move and double checked my anchors at each clip in, I just didn't trust myself to go fast.

I always kept in mind that the only goal was to finish safely. On the way up 2 of the guys had the summit as "the goal" and on the way down my partners goal was "getting down". I really had to reign myself in and tell them several times, that my only goal was completing the next move safely. Especially the last 1000ft where it looked like the Rifugio was right there!

 

[M.Bas]

It's always good to know when it's time to turn around.
Making such a decision is always a battle between pride and sense.

Last year in Parco Nazionale del Grand Paradiso, I had to choose between crossing a sloped snowfield (about 60degrees sideways) of about 10m to 15m width and go back.

Part of you says, no big deal what could go wrong, it's only about 10m. Or I can climb down 25m, walk below the field "through" the river and climb back up, could be easily done.
But you don't know the conditions, it's all rocks below the snow, could be frozen. And climbing up/down wet rocks...

After taking a 15 min break I decided to go back. When all alone in the middle of nowhere, not seeing anybody during the hike... It just wasn't worth taking the risks. Taking a lot of those small risks can get you into big trouble.

Would love to see your photo's. Via Ferrate sounds really nice to do sometime in the future.