Introduction This was Brian’s third high level trail in the superb Italian Dolomites. There is a series of ‘Alta Via’ routes that criss cross the Dolomites range providing great passages with at times incredibly steep rocky trails through these mountains with options for scrambling and via ferrata (ladders, cables and steps to assist in steep terrain). Having done the more famous Alta Via 1 (photos) way back in 1994 and Alta Via 2 (blog) last year 2023, I chose the lesser known Alta Via 9 (AV9) this year.
The 100 mile (approx) AV9 takes somewhere between 7 and 12 days and follows an east west line (whilst all the other AV’s head roughly north south). It passes through many parts of the Dolomites Martina and I have previously visited during rock climbing trips- but I was looking forward to connecting them together this time and seeing them from the different perspective as part of a backpacking trip.
I also managed to sneak in a bonus hike on the northern 4 days of the Alta Via 1 at the end before my return flight.
Alta Via9 Blue (my 2024 variations Rust), AV1 Green (my 2024 route Orange), AV2 Purple
My Alta Via 9 Itinerary
Day 1 31st August 2024 Saturday St Cipriano to near Plattkoffelhutte
I took the train from Venice to Bozen, picked up at gas cannister for my stove at Sportler outdoor shop and bused out east to the trail start at St Cipriano in the steaming heat of early afternoon. There were no shortage of trail signs here but none for the AV9! Anyway it was easy navigation on good trail up a scenic river valley with spikey peaks of the Rosengarten range to the south. A variant northward gave some mild scrambling and via ferrata to pass my first hut, Rif Alpe di Tires and it was huge, feeling more like a high hotel.
From here I hiked east into the evening along a gentle ridge line but with some thunder and showers. A bigger fright came from some very aggressive dogs protecting herds of sheep near to the trail that hurried me along.
Day 2 1st Sep Plattkoffelhutte- Sassolungo variant-Sella Pass- Rif Boe
Today I diverted northward up through the Sassolungo range in the morning and through the classic dolomite cliffs around Sella Pass. I climbed onto the barren rocky Sella plateau to reach Refuge Boe mid afternoon. More thunderstorms had me unexpectedly booking into the hut for the night under cover.
Day 3 2nd Sep Rif Boe-Piz Boe- Rif Kostner-Campolongo pass-Falzarego Pass
The sky had cleared in the morning as I headed up to Piz Boe at 3151m (small hut here on the top) for views across to the Dolomites highest peak Marmolada with its sadly receding glacier. There are options from here to the next hut Ref Kostner across the high plateau but I took the southerly route 638 including a steep rubbly gully to lower ground before traversing to the nicely situated hut, then down good trails past ski lifts to the road and the cluster of buildings including cafes at Laguscei.
I nipped down and back on the bus to the town of Corvara to pick up lunch and supplies at the small supermarket. My way eastward from here was on unusually gentle terrain and easy paths past ski areas to Pralongia then onto steeper slopes again to near the road at Passo di Valparola. There was a perfect small stream for a dinner stop and then I camped before the pass.
Day 4 3rd Sep Falzarego Pass- vf to Lagazuoi- vf to Rif Giussani-vf to Rif Pomedes-Cortina d’Ampezzo (vf = via ferrata)
This was an superb day linking via ferratas near to the AV9 – first I climbed up to Lagazuoi summit on Via Ferrata Kaiserjagersteig with a great bridge spanning a ravine. Then along to the crowded summit hut (there is cable car access and the Alta Via 1 crosses here too) with spectacular views all round. I dropped down to Col dei Bois then up a 2nd vf- the Scala del Minighel- climbing a steep rock wall using a series of spikes hammered into the rock.
After lunch at Ref Giussani I circuited round the east side of the mountain Tofane de Rozes to a 3rd vf, Sentiero Astaldi, on colourful rock traversing the south side of Tofane massif. Some drizzle added a bit of spice to the already grainy, gravelly rock. I continued on a long descent past ski slopes to the bustling and touristy Cortina d’Ampezzo, the largest town in the area.
Day 5 4th Sep Cortina-Passo Son Forcia-Passo Tre Croci-Lago Misurina-near Rif Fonda Savio
This was another great day, ascending out from the bustle of Cortina to reach a rocky pass at Forcella Zumeles onto easy trails past the looming Monte Cristallo to a roadside lunch stop at Passo Tre Croci. Then on northwards to another picturesque tourist hotspot at Lake Misurina – on the map this section had looked a bit of connector trail only, but the hiking turned out to be very pleasant.
I pushed on through forest then up into the huge rocky, barren valley of Ciadin de La Neve with some scrambling and via ferrata through the wild Forcella del Diavalo. A tiny spot to camp further down the other side was a welcome sight in an otherwise bouldery ragged landscape.
Day 6 5th Sep Rif Fonda Savio-Rif Auronzo (short bad weather day)
I was away early as heavy rain was forecast today and I had some via ferrata to traverse. Past the grandly situated Ref Fonda Savio along a well crafted trail northwards roughly following a ridge and just finishing the short assisted section before the heavens opened. I scampered on quickly to shelter at the crowded Ref Auronzo (passing a very wet wedding photoshoot!).
With rain, cloud and wind I beat a retreat by bus back down to Cortina for the night.
Day 7 6th Sep Rif Auronzo-Drei Zinnen Hutte-Zigmondy Hutte-Rif Fondo Valle-near Rif Prati di Croda Rossa
Next day was still cloudy as I set off in mist round the north side of the famous and fabulous Drei Zinnen mountains. Nothing to see here today unfortunately and I kept going on good mountain trails bypassing some via ferrata options past three mountain huts with spells of heavy rain along with the odd clear spell.
With the rain ongoing I took the decision to avoid the supposedly excellent vf Strada Degli Alpini and instead dropped down valley to Ref Fondo Valle (a road end restaurant/hotel) before going straight back up steeply on good trails aiming for Passo della Sentinella. Into the mist again, the trail disappeared into steep, loose bouldery scree and I couldn’t see a way through the headwall cliff so I retreated back. It was getting late so I picked a high traversing trail route skirting the northern tip of these mountains around the Sextener Rotwand ending up at the top of the ski slopes above the Ref Prati di Croda Rossa.
A long wet day today with heaps of ascent and descent but still fun!
Day 8 7th Sep Rif Prati di Croda Rossa-Rif Berti-Rif Italo Lunelli-Padola
Everything was still wet in the morning but it least looked like the cloud might clear as I set off traversing the east side of the Sextener range on a mix of trails. I hadn’t any information on this area other than a map so I had a some surprising WWI relics and an assisted cable ascent scramble over a pass, down to Ref Poperu/Berti and connecting with the AV9 again. Still in ‘pea soup’ mist though I opted for a lower set of trails south round the mountains than the continuation of the AV9. And so I headed on through forest and eventually dropped down to the small town of Padola and called my own version of the Alta Via 9 hike over. It had been a wonderful trip and I would love to return to do the ‘official’ AV9 in this eastern side in the Sextener mountains – what I saw of it looked great!
Bonus Alta Via 1 hike
Day 1 9th Sep Lago di Braies-Rif Fanes-Bivouac della Pace (AV1 variant)
I headed by bus to Toblach/Dobbiacho through heavy rain and cloud. Toblach is a pleasant town at the northern end of the Dolomites near the Austrian border and has an Austrian feel to it. Leaving by bus again in rain to the start of the AV1 at the touristy Lago di Braies I hoped that the forecasted clearer weather would arrive soon.
Thankfully it did and I started hiking south round the rather lovely Lago gradually leaving the mist and the tourists behind. I met many AV1 hikers in the first few miles, wow this trail is popular compared with the AV9 where I saw only a couple of groups doing a section of that route.
I pushed on for a long day of good undulating trails and gradually gaining height with clear weather, splitting from the main Alta Via 1 south of the bustling Refuge Fanes to take a variant up to Bivouac della Pace. There were at least 4 Refuges that I passed along the way that could be used as overnight stops for those on the AV1. I left the other hikers behind here and saw no-one else until the impressive hut perched at the side of a rocky ridge. All told about 18.5 miles and 7,800 feet ascent, so quite a long but great day.
Day 2 10th Sep Bivouac della Pace-Forc Col dei Bos-Forc Averau-Rif Nuvolau-Passo Giau-Rif Cinque Torre-Rif Bai de Dones (bus to Cortina)
After a good night in the hut shared with 2 friendly young English guys and 3 Germans arriving in the dark, I went out and ‘bagged’ a small peak to the south, Mt Ciavel, with huge panoramic views in the early morning light.
From there it was a big, steep drop to the east on scree slopes with a faint trail to the river Travenanzes at the foot of the Tofane mountains and crossing my Alta Via 9 route from last week. It was a bit of a grunt back up to the Forcella Col dei Bois and then down all the way to the road at the ski lifts of Refuge Bai de Dones.
More great scenery circuiting the mountain of Averau (scene of a fab climb Martina and I did here on the south face) and then up to the stunningly situated and ‘mobbed’ Refuge Nuvolau. I think opening parts of the movie Cliffhanger were filmed around this spot. I wanted to catch a bus down into the Cortina so finished off with a loop round and back to the north past the cool Cinque Torri rock towers.
This was an incredibly scenic two days of hiking where I covered four short days from the Cicerone guide book. To wrap things up I managed a quick visit to Venice before flying back home….
Notes for hikers
Getting there I used public transport from Venice airport to both west and east terminus’s. The transport network is superb and good value. Although I was surprised that many buses only took cash, so its worthwhile carrying some cash if using buses (and cash is handy for some refuges too).
Terrain Any backpacking in the Dolomites is likely to involve a fair bit of ascent and descent – I produced an ascent comparison chart for some well known trails including ones I have done. But the upshot is that if you like flat walking only then the Dolomites are going to offer limited backpacking trips! There was some scrambling and via ferrata on the route I hiked but mostly I sought those out and easier options could be taken from the large trail network in the area.
Supplies Bozen at the west end is a big town with all supply needs including gas cannisters at Sportlers outdoor shop. I saw cannisters in Cortina (Cooperative) and Lake Misurina Spar shop too.
There are grocery stores on route at Cortina (end of my Day 4) and Lake Misurina (end of my Day 5) and you could easily take a bus to access the towns of Canezai (my Day 2) and Corvara (my Day 3). Of course you could also eat and stay at the many refuges along the way.
The Dolomites are not a wilderness and although it can certainly feel rugged, mountainous and wild, on the AV9 you are probably never more than say 4 hours from a refuge or road. It seemed like I crossed a road about 6 out of 8 days. Most of these if not all had bus stops allowing access to towns. This does mean that you don’t have to carry too much food as meals and some chocolate bars can be bought at the refuges or at bar restaurants at road crossings.
Guides and maps I didn’t have a AV9 guidebook but since hiking I see there is a German guidebook for the AV9 from Rother which I would have taken. I used the OutdoorActive mapping website and app – colour printing my own A4 topo ‘stripmaps’ for the route from the website using the Kompass map layer. This worked out really well for me as I could access the paper maps quickly from my pocket without looking at a phone app all the time. You could also purchase ‘normal’ paper maps whilst out there, Kompass and Tobacco are both good and widely available.
The AV9 and variants were marked for most of the way on the Kompass maps. I didn’t see any AV9 signposts on the ground whilst hiking, but the route follows a number of existing trails each with a signpost number which were easy to follow.
As a back up I also had the topo maps downloaded to my phone using the OutdoorActive app along with an Alta Via 9 route gpx.
Via Ferrata I had a ebook copy of Cicerone ‘Via Ferratas of the Italian Dolomites Volume 1’ for reference to be able to see more details of vf options along the way. This is a great guidebook and I made good use of the descriptions helping me plan out interesting variations to the AV9 route.
Two other blogs from other hikers on the AV9:
Walk! Matts trips and trails August 2013
Baxter Nature August-September 2024 (about the same time as me!)
A wee walk 