Dolomites Trip with Christian June 2006

we had good times - on saturday we went up Katia Monte on Colodri in Arco, a very nice route - especially the top pitches - although a bit crowded. Having tried our forces there, we decided we were good enough to go try a real thing in the mountains to comfort our mountaineering itch.
The adventure started that same saturday night with driving to the Vazzoler refuge in the Civetta range (Paolo, thanks for the advice!). After 1,5 hour moonlit approach, we had some trouble finding the winter room - and finished by entering through a window into the shower, and then finding some beds and sleeping thus. Sunday morning found us hezitant because of a grey and rather unfriendly sky. Still determined, we decided to go check it out. Our objective for the day was the route called Solda, apparently one of the best in that grade (6- UIAA) in Civetta and comparable in length and difficulty to Katia Monte (400m). It goes up this -

It's Torre di Babel, maybe not the most impressive of them all around there but definitely very inspiring anyway (here is a picture of Vazzoler refuge and Torre Venezia that i really like too, maybe one of the next objectives)

At the bottom i could not resist giving it a go. I got lost already on the first pitch, having to make my own anchor and seeing afterwards the real belay 10m to my right. Next chrtur got lost as well - here he is leading one of the first pitches -

Then somehow i found the way again, we persisted on like that, off and on route until the mid-tower grassy ledge. From there routefinding became easier - and the climbing really delightful. Great rock, good protection and awesome moves. We finished the last pitch with some snowflakes just to give us a feel of what all those clouds were about. Here is a view from the route -

After several rappels and some exciting scree we got down, and back to the car from the refuge by 10 pm, just in time for a good pasta in Agordo.
On Monday we slept. And slept again. When the sleeping was finally over, we decided to try smth near Sella as approaches there are easier. We went up the first two pitches of Grosse Micheluzzi route on Piz Ciaves, only to notice that we were too tired, too long, and too worried about the clouds around. Rapping down and driving around lake garda taking pictures of lemon trees was the last thing on the menu. Good trip.