Via ferrata Alleghesi! Finally!

For three years Barbara and I have tried to get ourselves to the top of Monte Civetta via ferrata Alleghesi. Last year we tried twice. On both occasions we were thoroughly thwarted by severe weather conditions. And the last thing in the world you want when you’re hanging onto a metal cable is for a lightning storm to come your way! This year we decided to be flexible with our plans and waited until we thought the weather window looked good and then made our way to Monte Civetta and via ferrata Alleghesi.

Sunday night was spent in Rifugio Coldai, where we had a room to ourselves away from the communal snores in the larger rooms. Privileged! And then Monday morning we set off after a quick cup of coffee with lunch-packs in the bag. Soon we were overtaking a few people who were heading in the same direction. And then another nearly dozen. Alleghesi is going to be popular today! 

Gear up at the base of the ferrata and off we go. A little way up the sun ‘disappeared’ and the mist settled around us reducing visibility to what you can see around you. We only saw the sun again 800 vertical metres higher when we reached the summit. With the mountain acting like a divider, we had brilliant sunshine beaming down on us at the top and views that went on and on on the northern side of the mountain overlooking the Alleghe valley. On the southern side the cloud refused to budge – hiding the magnificent views across Pelmo, Antelao, Sorapiss, Tre Cime, etc., etc., and beyond to Grossglockner – the highest peak in Austria. 

Finding the descent route, tricky most of the time, required the utmost attention… looking for tiny details like worn surfaces, flattened stone paths, and red markers obscured and hidden by the mist… Happiness was when we finally saw Rifugio Torrani, our home for the evening, less than a 100 metres below us!

The always happy and friendly Venturino who has been the hut guardian since my first visit in 2005, and who recognised my voice immediately responding with a “Ciao Harry!” when I called him to reserve accommodation, comes out to greet us with big hugs. Happy that we’ve finally made it on our fourth attempt and despite the thick mist!

Soon we’ve got ice cold drinks in hand, and then we’re joined first by the five-some we met on top, and shortly after by the eleven we passed on the approach, each time toasting our successes!

Soon as they left Barbara and I moved inside where Venturino had lit a very welcome fire which soon warmed us. A while later, Kaat, Kristijn and Loke, the three Belgians we had met early that morning arrived and soon they too were huddling round the fireplace. Then Gaby and Dagmar, two Italian girls living in the Val Gardena area arrived and finally Dario and Anna who are from the Trieste / Udine area joined us to make up the nine people who were going to be sharing eating, sleeping, and ablution space in this tiny rifugio located a few hundred metres below the summit of Civetta. It didn’t take long for us to chat like old friends.

Dinner was the usual Venturino masterpiece, cooked in the tiny kitchen, which also serves as office and bedroom during the three summer months that he lives on the mountain. And then after a game with a mountaineering theme that strongly resembled ‘Snakes and Ladders’ and a bedtime grappa we headed off to our bunks to end another perfect mountain day.