Vajolet Towers

Four summers ago, Shane and I scored some incredibly cheap tickets to Venice. We eventually figured out an itinerary around Northern Italy; that included some time in the Dolomiti. We visited Val Gardena and Tre Cime.

We planned a few hikes with ALL of our photo gear…

And I’ve been itching to get back ever since!

Fast forward to 2018… as mentioned in my earlier post, my cousin called me up one day, and asked if I wanted to go climbing in Switzerland or Italy. We chose Italy ^_^

So I had taken the night train from Vienna to Venice, and took a bus to the airport to meet up with Stephen. From there, we grabbed the rental, got lunch, met Keith, and drove out to the Dolomites!

Stephen and Keith set a solid climbing itinerary!

First up were the Vajolet towers. The objective was Delago Tower via the Piaz Arete.

We took a bus to a trailhead, and then we had a 2-hr hike to Rifugio Alberto Primo.

Weather for the entire week was showing afternoon showers. We didn’t get any during the hike, so things were looking good! Here’s the view from top! Lodging is on the right, and the objective is on the left! #LifeInTheAlps

We woke up to perfect skies!

We ate breakfast, and were off to our climb!

Ten minutes later, we were gearing up and after a chat about logistics, we were off!

Keith playing “name that peak!”

Cruisin’ up!

P2 was the arête. It was really exposed, and really fucking awesome.

Keith had his camera on him. It’s nice to get photos of yourself!

Working my way up!

On P3.

Stephen cleaning P3

The books called this a classic Dolomiti climb. I would agree.

Loving these gear placements!

Working my way up P4.

Stephen topping out P4

We were climbing behind a German kid and his Mom. They were awesome. He was also kind of a pro climber (seriously, this kid can onsight 5.14’s)

Everyone got photos!

Summit #1!!!

We quickly rapped down after this, as rain was supposed to move in. Keith showed us how to do pre-rigged rappels, and it was a pretty efficient way to get off the tower.