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Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend but we either had no 3G
coverage or the conditions were too bad to hang around and do an update…
so here’s a quick summary:
(5/9/2010) Rif Mulaz – Rif Rosetta
Weather still chilly and windy but managed to climb up to Passo Della
Farangole (2932m) across a couple of snowfields, a lot of loose rocks and
scree, and a final section of climbing up ladders and cables bolted to the
rocks, before the mist swirled in as we climbed down the cables the other
side and mostly slid down the steep scree slope before the final 270m
ascent up to Rif Rosetta (2581m). The thick mist and cold wind (and
possibly the cake) convinced us not to push on to Rif Pradidali for the
night but to stay put… so we took the cable car down (then back up) to
San Martino di Castrozza to hit the bank for some extra cash.
(6/9/2010) Rif Rosetta – Rif Treviso
Even worse weather saw the Rosetta guardian
recommending the “bad weather” routes that avoided the more exposed
sections. The whole place was like a barren moonscape, with only those who
were “brave or foolhardy enough to go”. Headed up towards, then round the
back of, a couple of glaciers whose green ice was clearly visble on the
front edge where it had broken away. Still rocky and exposed in places so
wouldn’t have been impressed with “the way”. 2 german couples we’d seen
for the past couple of days headed the same way as us but then we lost
them after a couple of hours (presumably for a short day just to Rif
Pradidali) while we suffered a 1400m descent, via Bivacco Minazio
(unmanned hut with the remains of a US bomber that crashed in 1957), and a
final 300m climb to Rif Treviso (1631m), to be the only visitors for the
night…
(7/9/2010) Rif Treviso – Passo Cedera
The Treviso Rif Guardian told us of more mist and wind followed by rain
for the rest of the week. He suggested we would get to the passo fine but
after that wouldn’t be so fun. He did, however, acknowledge the difference
between “dolomiti showers” and “scottish showers” so I guess he thought we
might be used to a bit of rain. This morning wasn’t holding back, though,
and it was tipping down at 0820 when we left the rifugio and headed in
full waterproofs through the rain, mist and soggy, muddy forest.
The guide book strongly discourages heading out on the final section in
bad weather, however, and with rain set in for the rest of the week, after
a rather wet morning of 750m ascent over Forcella d’Oltro (2229m) and
1100m more descent to Passo Cereda (1361m), we opted to take the bus via
Fiera di Primiero down to Feltre. 
So after 10 days of bread/jam/cheese, spaghetti and pork steaks we’re
heading off in search of pizza…
We’ll no doubt go back and finish the last couple of days, either when we go walk AV1 (which is apparently equally as fun but slightly less exposed and on average 1000m lower) or when we’re next in the Alps or so and have a couple of spare days.