Rushforth - Ski Touring and Snowshoeing in the Dolomites

About the Author

James Rushforth is an experienced and professional climber, mountaineer, skier and high-liner. His book Rock Climbs and Via Ferrata The Dolomites was nominated for the Banff Film Festival Book Award and was cited as the best Dolomite guidebook ever produced ( SA Mountain Magazine ). James also works as a professional photographer and has won 12 international photography competitions, and published work for numerous magazines and papers including National Geographic , The Times and The Daily Telegraph . He has written tutorial and blog posts for a number of popular media platforms such as Viewbug and 500px and appeared as a judge in several global competitions.

Although based in the UK, James spends much of his time exploring the Italian Dolomites and is one of the leading authorities on the region, particularly with regards to photography and extreme sports. He is part of the Norrna Pro Team and is kindly supported by Breakthrough Photography, Landcruising and Hilleberg.

James can be contacted at www.jamesrushforth.com.

SKI TOURING AND SNOWSHOEING IN THE DOLOMITES

50 WINTER ROUTES

by James Rushforth

2 POLICE SQUARE, MILNTHORPE, CUMBRIA LA7 7PY
www.cicerone.co.uk

James Rushforth 2017

First edition 2017

ISBN 978 1 85284 745 6

Printed by KHL Printing, Singapore

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated.

Route mapping by Lovell Johns www.lovelljohns.com Overview map by Nicola Regine

Contains OpenStreetMap.org data OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI

Updates to this guide

While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/745/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time.

The route maps in this guide are derived from publicly-available data, databases and crowd-sourced data. As such they have not been through the detailed checking procedures that would generally be applied to a published map from an official mapping agency, although naturally we have reviewed them closely in the light of local knowledge as part of the preparation of this guide.

We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to updates@cicerone.co.uk or by post to Cicerone, 2 Police Square, Milnthorpe LA7 7PY, United Kingdom.

Acknowledgements

The creation of this guidebook was only made possible by the enormous and generous support of a great many people. First and foremost thanks to all the visionaries who came before us, discovering new routes, documenting old ones and developing the area into the hugely successful region we see today. The fine and delicate balance of preserved natural beauty combined with an incredible tourist infrastructure, ultimately resulting in the award of UNESCO world heritage status, is testament to the hard work and dedication of the local populace.

While working on the guide, Colletts Mountain Holidays very kindly provided accommodation in between my stints in the van, a very generous and much appreciated gesture when its -20C at night. A huge thanks to the office and resort staff for hosting and for treating me as one of their own.

My thanks to everyone who has accompanied me on countless adventures in the Dolomites, whether on routes included in this guide or not. It has been a true privilege exploring the mountains with you, leaving me with many a cherished memory and ultimately reminding me of what guidebook writing is all about.

As ever my family provided excellent support, guidance and encouragement throughout the project. Thanks as always to Lynne Hempton for accompanying me on many of the routes, for assisting with all aspects of the book and for turning my inarticulate musings into something resembling intelligible text.

Finally my thanks to all the staff at Cicerone who have cajoled, assisted, steered and shaped the evolution of this project from its initial concept to the book you see before you.

Warning

Ski touring, snowshoeing and winter mountaineering can be a dangerous activity carrying a risk of personal injury or death. It should only be undertaken by those with the training and experience to evaluate the routes, a full understanding of the risks, and the appropriate equipment for the chosen route. While every care and effort has been taken in the preparation of this guide, the user should be aware that conditions, especially in winter, are highly variable and can change quickly. Varying snow levels, temperatures, wind conditions and fresh snowfall can seriously affect the character of a route and avalanche risk must be carefully considered. These can materially affect the seriousness of any climb, tour, snowshoe or expedition.

Therefore, except for any liability which cannot be excluded by law, neither Cicerone nor the author accepts liability for damage of any nature (including damage to property, personal injury or death) arising directly or indirectly from the information in this guide.

Front cover: The north faces of the iconic Tre Cime (Route 49)

Passing the impressive icefall in the lower half of Canale Col Anton

Snowshoes and Monte Pelmo (Route 42)

ROUTE SUMMARY TABLE