An intermediate level ski tour on the Italian/Austrian border in the South Tyrol. 3000 metre peaks, large north facing glacial systems and apfel strudel in abundance are the hallmarks of this tour. For those with a historical interest in World War I this area has many remnanats of the conflict here; thousands of troops were stationed here onthe high peaks. The Italians dug in on the Cevedale and the Austrians on the Konigspitze.
We start are tour in the north of the region in the resort of Sulden. This is reached easily by car or public transport (via Landeck in Austria) and the nearest airports are Innsbruck or even Zurich.
- We take a ‘randonnee’ ticket up the main lifts before reachng the paso del madriccio after a quick traverse. We leave the pistes behind here and ski to the Zufalhutte for lunch. We then don skins and make our way up the valley to the Martella Hut 2610m.
- We spend the next day touring with lighter sacks here and climb to the Cima Marmotta 3330m. We have an option here of skiing north facing powder back down the glacier or dropping behind and traversing to the Terza Cima Venezia 3356m. We then ski the Vedretta Serana on powder (hopefully) back to the hut.
- Our objective today is the Cevedale which we reach by the Vedretta della Forcola. We can take in the Cima Cevedale (or traverse beneath it) before gaining the summit at 3769m (4 hours). We now take a line down the Cedec glacier and if there is good visibility we can cut through some dramatic seracs before re-ascending to the col Pasquale (a further 200m of ascent). This gives access (steep at first) to 900 metres of spring snow all the way to the Branca hut.
- There are many options from here and in the past we’ve spent 3 nights ticking off the different peaks encircling the Forni glacier. There is tons of terrain here and a lot of north facing snow (we’ve skied fresh tracks 10 days after snowfall). The two classics are the Punta San Matteo 3678m and Pizzo Tresero 3594.
- Today’s objective is the Pizzini hut and we can either take in a peak in the Forni system (the Cima san Giacomo has some excellent north facing steep coulouirs) or traverse Mont Pasqale. If the weather is inclement we could train today (avalanche skills) and simply follow the valley road.
- From the Pizzini hut we reascend some 650 metres to the Suldenspitze via the Casati hut (where we have a coffee stop). This is our last chance to get fresh tracks down the glacier before eventually reaching the pistes of sulden where we ski back to the car.
The above is only a snapshot of what can be done in this area and the final itinerary will be decided by the guide according to client’s aspirations, current weather and conditions.
