Overview
Civetta group is the most impressive and alpinistic group of the whole Dolomites.It is delimited by the Valle Agordina (West) and the Val di Zoldo (East).
Its northern boundary is the forcella Staulanza (dividing this group from the Pelmo group) and the south one is passo Duran.
.. here the huge (1200 m drop) and world famous wall of Civetta : a must for rock climbers just as Walker spur on Grandes Jorasses, North wall of Cima Grande di Lavaredo ecc.
The triad De Gasperi, Su Alto and Terranova
Le Rocchette: Torre Coldai, Torre Alleghe, Torre di Valgrande and Pan di Zucchero from West
... here many amazing paths for tourists, some ferrate routes for hikers and many climbing routes for very skilled climbers.
Coming here after a climb campaign made (for example) in Brenta Dolomites or Catinaccio or ... can make you feel like a child in front of a giant ! (that's what I experienced)
Famous climbers from Germany, Austria and (of course) Italy came here to open the most difficult rock routes of Dolomites so that this group is also known as Regno del 6° grado (the Kingdom of extreme climbing).
Here you can spend a lot of weeks before you can say you've climbed the best routes ...
Here you will find only some general info in the subgroup sections, nothing about the single summits : each of them needs a page, I hope someone will do it ... and, I hope, adding to this page better photos than mine (old and not fine)
Getting There
to access the two main valleys you can also use bus services starting from BellunoHuts :
Rifugio Vazzoler m.1714
- From Capanna Trieste (getting there from Listolade, on the road following Val Corpassa) 1,45 hour by walk
- From Listolade 680 m - 3 hours walk
Rifugio Coldai m.2132
- From Pala Favèra (m. 1505) – Follow the gravel road starting near the camping and rising with some hairpins to Malga Pioda m. 1816, then a good path leading to the hut (2 hours from Pala Favèra) – It’s the shortest way to get the hut
- From Alleghe – Follow the road to Piani di Pezzè (m. 1470), then the narrow gravel road rising to Forcella d’Alleghe and to Malga Pioda m. 1816. From Malga Pioda follow the same path as the previous approach.
Rifugio Tissi m. 2262 - Long and difficult to find the path from Masarè (971m) and from Alleghe, the best way to reach it is coming from rif.Vazzoler (2 hours) or from rif. Coldai (less than 2 hours).
Central hub
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Here the most famous routes on the highest wall of the group:
if you speak about the "Solleder", the "Comici" or the "Philipp-Flamm" on Civetta NW face, all climbers immediately think of wonderful, difficult and striking routes.
I heard that some modern climbers have made them in few hours but if you think that they've been traced in 1925 and 1931 ...
Northern branch
 | Main summits of this chain : |
Wonderful chain with yellow walls, on each summit many difficult routes, some of them has also medium (D/TD) difficulty routes
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South-West great ridge
 | Main summits : |
Here some "little" routes that requires up to 1100 m drop climbs, none easy nor medium difficulty
Each summit is worth of a dedicated page
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South-West branch - "Cantoni di Pelsa"
 | Main summits : |
The most "human" zone of the group, here climbs can be done even by not extreme climbers.
It is a very "Babele" group, a lot of pinnacles, towers, channels where you can also think to climb a summit and arrive on another one :)
Torre Venezia is the must climbed summit of the group.
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South branch - "Cantoni della Busazza"
 | Main summits : |
Here 2 famous summits often climbed, Torre Trieste "the Tower of the towers" in the most difficult summit of the Dolomites, with its South wall 700 m drop where runs the outstanding Carlesso and Cassin routes and the "Normal" one (used only for coming down) that is far more difficult than Campanile Basso
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Moiazza group
 | Main summits : |
This group belongs geographically to Civetta group but is always (in climbing environments) considered apart from it.
It has a big wall facing the Val Corpassa (the valley that you must run to reach rif. Vazzoler from Listolade).
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.. climbing or hiking pics ...
please put here your (welcome) photos, I'll maintain sections just for them ! :)) |  |  |  |  |
Guidebooks
The late complete and updated guidebook is:
"Civetta" by Ivo Rabanser - Collana CAI-TCI Guide dei Monti d'Italia, 2012 june
Other historycal guidebooks:
"Civetta" by Oscar Kelemina - Scuola di Alpinismo C.Capuis, CAI Mestre, 1984
"Civetta-Moiazza" by Vincenzo Dal Bianco - Giovanni Angelini - Tamari Editori, Bologna 1984 - € 14,46 available in this site
a report from Gangolf (in German language)
Dolomiten Civettagruppe - Andreas Kubin - Alpenvereinsführer - Bergverlag Rudolf Rother (1980) - ISBN: 3 7633 2308 2
When To Climb
starting from june for Cantoni di Pelsa,from July to September for all the other subgroups
