Shorter Walks in the Dolomites. Gillian Price
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don’t leave your common sense at home
The old Felizon rail bridge (Walk 5)
Emergencies
For medical matters, EU residents need a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). Holders are entitled to free or subsidised emergency treatment in Italy, which has an excellent national health service. UK residents can apply online at www.dh.gov.uk. Australia has a similar reciprocal agreement – see www.medicareaustralia.gov.au. Other nationalities should take out suitable equivalent insurance. In any case, travel insurance for a walking holiday is also strongly recommended, as the costs of rescue and repatriation can be considerable. Members of Alpine clubs are usually covered, but do check before you depart.
The following may be of help should problems arise.
Polizia (police) Tel 113
Tel 118 for health-related emergencies including ambulanza (ambulance) and soccorso alpino (mountain rescue)
‘Help!’ in Italian is Aiuto! (pronounced ‘eye-you-tow’). Pericolo is ‘danger’
Should help be needed during a walk, use the following internationally recognised rescue signals: SIX signals per minute either visual (waving a handkerchief or flashing a torch) or audible (shouting or whistling), repeated after a pause of one minute. The answer is THREE visual or audible signals per minute, to be repeated after a one-minute pause. Anyone who sees or hears a call for help must contact the nearest source of help, a mountain hut or police station for example, as quickly as possible.
These hand-signals could be useful for communicating at a distance or with a helicopter.
Both arms raised diagonally
help needed
land here
YES (to pilot’s question)
One arm raised diagonally, one arm down diagonally
help not needed
do not land here
NO (to pilot’s question)
Using this guide
The 50 walks in this guide have been selected for their suitability for a wide range of holidaymakers. There is something for everyone, from leisurely family strolls to strenuous climbs to panoramic peaks for experienced walkers. Each walk has been designed to fit into a single day. This means carrying a small rucksack and being able to return to comfortable hotel accommodation at day’s end. That said, many walks become even more enjoyable if stretched out over two days, with an overnight stay in a rifugio (see Accommodation). For more ambitious walkers, 25 multiple-day walks can be found in the Cicerone guide Walking in the Dolomites, while Trekking in the Dolomites: Alta Via routes has six amazing long-distance routes.
Each walk description is preceded by an information box containing the following essential data:
Spiky Croda da Lago and the Lastoni di Formin (Walk 19)
Distance This is given in both kilometres and miles.
Ascent and Descent This is important information, as height gain and loss are a further indication of the effort required and these figures need to be taken into account alongside difficulty grade and distance when planning the day. A walker of average fitness will usually cover 300m (about 1000ft) in ascent in one hour.
Difficulty The difficulty of each walk is classified by grade, although adverse weather conditions will make any route more arduous. Even a level road can be treacherous if icy.
Grade 1 – an easy route on clear tracks and paths, suitable for beginners
Grade 2 – paths across typical mountain terrain, often rocky and with considerable ups and downs, where a reasonable level of fitness is preferable
Grade 3 – strenuous, often entailing exposed stretches and extra climbs. Experience and extra care are recommended
Walking time This does not include pauses for picnics, views, photos or nature stops, so always add on a good couple of hours when planning your day. Times given during the descriptions are partial (as opposed to cumulative). If following a route in the opposite direction, allow roughly two thirds of the time if it’s an ascent that you’re descending, and about 1½ times more for a downhill section that you’re climbing up.
Note A handful of walks described have stretches across rock faces aided by anchored cable. While they are not strictly climbing routes necessitating special equipment, there are rules that need to be followed:
Always keep away from iron cables and rungs in bad weather and if a storm is brewing, as the fixtures attract lightning
Avoid two-way traffic on a single stretch of cable, as it can become awkward and consequently dangerous if you try to pass people. It’s common sense to wait until those approaching from the opposite direction have passed before you proceed, to avoid any added strain on cables
Within the walk descriptions, ‘path’ is used to mean a narrow pedestrian-only way, ‘track’ and ‘lane’ are unsurfaced but vehicle-width and ‘road’ is sealed and open to traffic unless specified otherwise. Compass bearings are in abbreviated form (N, S, NNW and so on) as are right (R) and left (L). Reference landmarks and places encountered en route are in bold type, with their altitude in metres above sea level given as ‘m’, not to be confused with minutes (abbreviated as min). 100m=328ft.
Place names in the Dolomites often come in trilingual versions: the old German names for the northern region (the former Tyrol), along with their Italian translations and the recently re-introduced ancient Ladin versions. For the purposes of this guide the Italian version has been given preference so as not to weigh down the text unnecessarily; other names have occasionally been used as well where deemed useful. There is an Italian–German–English glossary of topographic and other features at the back of this guide in Appendix B.
The vast San Martino Altipiano with the cablecar station and Rifugio Rosetta (Walk 46)
THE WALKS
Sass Maor soars above Val Canali (Walk 47)
WALK 1
Lago di Braies
| Start/Finish | Hotel Lago di Braies |
| Distance | 3.5km/2.2 miles |
| Ascent/Descent | 50m |
| Grade | 1 |
| Time | 1hr 20min |
| Maps | Tabacco n.031 scale 1:25,000 |
| Access | Lago di Braies can be reached by the summer SAD bus from Dobbiaco in Val Pusteria, via Villabassa. Drivers will find the appropriate turn-off midway between Monguelfo and Villabassa. Hefty fees are charged at the lake car parks. |
According to an old Ladin legend, every 100 years on a full moon night the blind Queen of Fanes and her daughter Princess Dolasilla leave their underground dwelling beneath the Sass dla Porta (also known as Croda del Becco) via a secret doorway. Their subjects slumber on in the depths of the mountain, while the two row across the Braies lake in the hope of hearing silver trumpets announcing