Canalone Neri : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering : SummitPost

Ice climbing in the Brenta, the southern limestone paradise in the Dolomites, really ?
Most people come here to climb the fantastic rock routes at Crozzon di Brenta, Torre Gilberti, Cima Tosa and others, but only a few think about the couloirs in this area. Meanwhile this has changed a little bit, because more and more extreme skiers discovered the Brenta, Tofana, Marmolata and other massifs for their unbelievable (for me) downhills.
Also the Canalone della Tosa (in Italy it's called Canalone Neri) meanwhile has it's ski descents nearly every year.
Best time is spring to early summer, the earlier in the morning the better to avoid stonefall. Depending on ice conditions and if you go solo or not, the ascent will take usually 2 to 6 hours.
Actually the first ascent was done by a soloist, Virgilio Neri at July 21st, 1929.

Actual information from Gabriele Roth, August 2005: The Canalone Neri has no more snow ! Only a black ice band in the mid, the higher part is in bad quality and dangerous rock.: avoid it !!! Maybe it can be climbed only till the first days of june.

Comment: looks like the Canalone suffers like most of the classic alpine iceclimbs from the global warming. Thanks for the actual info, Gabriele!

Approach

From Bozen with the car via Madonna di Campiglio to Valsinella. From there follow the trail to Brentei hut (2 to 2.5 hours). From Brentei hut you have a great look into the Canalone (see Mathias' foto). It takes 45 to 60 minutes to reach the entry of the couloir from the hut.

Route Description

From the entry (~2350m) follow the couloir to 2600m, where it narrows and mostly some short areas of blank ice must be climbed, even in the spring when the rest of the couloir has mostly corn snow. After you passed the area at approximately 2700m, follow the couloir up to the main peak of Cima Tosa (3173m).

Essential Gear

Two ice axes, crampons, rope, 2-4 icescrews. If you feel comfortable with the steepness, it's a lot faster and safer to climb solo, just with crampons and ice axes.

Miscellaneous Info

If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.

Images