A note from the SP staff
Stefan Weber, the member we all used to know from his climbing pseudonym kletterwebbi, died on May 28th 2004 in southern France at the age of 37.

Stefan joined SP early on in 2002 and contributed a number of excellent pages and routes to this site. He was an accomplished climber excelling in difficult alpine and technical routes. The Dolomites, especially the area around Gröden / Val Gardena were special to him, as it was his old ancestral home.

kletterwebbi was always willing to share his knowledge and experience with other climbers, mainly here on SP, but also on other sites. He contributed his IT expertise as webmaster of his local section of the German Alpine Club, where he also engaged in leading trips for fellow members. Besides his climbing and mountaineering activities he was a musician, a composer of contemporary music. Stefan will be greatly missed by us all.

This page will be kept in honor of kletterwebbi, one of SP's most talented, knowledgeable members, and without a doubt, one of our greatest fellow mountaineers.

The picture was taken on the summit ridge of Lyskamm.

Overview

Nestled in the famous Langkofel group close to the Sella Pass is one of the most remarkable mountains of the Dolomites. This is the Fünffingerspitze (Five Finger Peak), so called because the five summits of this mountain form the shape of a hand with five fingers. The middle finger is the highest point with the summit of the Fünffingerspitze. The thumb stands a bit isolated and offers a thrilling ridge climb to it's top. The best view of this mountain is from the Sella Pass.

North of the peak the gigantic Langkofel is diveded by the Langkofelscharte from the Fünffingerspitze. To the south, the other big mountains of the Langkofel group are located: after the Fünffinger-Scharte the Grohmannspitze (3126 m), the Innerkoflerturm (3081 m) and the Zahnkofel (3001 m).

There is no easy way up to the summit. Even on the regular route UIAA grade III+ climbing (YDS 5.4) and about 3 hours will be required to reach the summit from the Langkofelscharte. The common climbs of the Fünffingerspitze are very popular (for example, the famous traverse via the thumb or even the regular route). Most days there will be many parties climbing, remember that to avoid feeling frustrated in case of crowds. Crowding is aided by the easy mechanical lift up to the pass. Going early or late may be the best option for solitude.

Getting There

The main thing is to reach the Sella-Joch. From there all of the routes of the Fünffingerspitze can be reached as day-trips. From the Sella-Joch take the chair-lift to the Langkofelscharte (opens at 8:15, closes at 17:00) where the Demetz-Hütte is located. If you don't use the chair-lift, it will take a good hour of hiking to reach the Hütte. Depending on the route the approach to the routes from the Langkofelscharte requires some few up to 30 minutes.

For the most popular routes the base of the climb is directly behind the Demetz hut, just follow the crowds ...

Some of the routes on the N-side are starting at the Langkofelkar. Best approch for those is from the Langkofelkarhütte (Rif. Vicenza). This hut is reached from the Langkofelscharte in about 30 minutes on a very good (very crowded!) trail.

The Sella-Joch is located between the two valleys Val di Fassa and Val Gardena. So one have to travel to Canazei (Val di Fassa) or St. Ulrich (Val Gardena). Both town can be reached by car (and also by public transportation) from Bozen, Trentino or Cortina d'Ampezzo. See the provided links for a closer description.

Red Tape

No red tape. Fee for the chair-lift to the Langkofelscharte, this can be avoided if you hike up ...

When To Climb

Summer

Camping

There are different campsites at Canazei, Campitello, St. Ulrich (Ortisei) and at the Fassa-valley. From Cortina d'Ampezzo (3 campsites) it is a long way to go to the Fünffingerspitze.

If you arrive late at night and plan to start very early in the morning, you may get away with sleeping by your car in some parking area at the Sella Pass. I have done this several times, but there are no guarantees!

Mountain Conditions

Good place with lot of informations are this Homepage of the Fassa-valley.

And there is another Homepage with lots of informations to the Fassa-valley.

The weather forecast for the region can be seen here: Weatherforcast Trentino.

Routes

Be aware that the use of bolts isn't common at many of the classic routes of the Dolomites. The stances often are not bolted too! So bring a medium rack and some slings and for the more difficult routes even some pitons. Get an early start and bring a route topo. Unless the route follows a ridge, it can be quite easy to get lost, as Dolomite climbs often traverse in funny places or make diagonal traverses across vague rock.

Regular route, 3+, 3 hours, some bolted stances, often very crowded, nevertheless a fantastic route! First ascent in L. Bernard, H. Wood, M. Barbaria and F. Fistli in 1891.
N-face, 4+, 5 hours, a seldom done, classical climb which is using chimneys most time. First ascent by C. Klucker and L. Norman-Neruda in 1891.
SW-ridge, 4, 4 hours from Fünffingerscharte, an other yery good route, very scenic, mostly done as descent from parties climbing the traverse of the Fünffingerspitze. This traverse is very recommended ! First ascent of the ridge by J. Boegle and M. Niedermaier in 1906.
Zanardi/Landi, 6-, 3 hours, this route is using the S-ridge of the Ringfinger (ring finger). First ascent by V. Zanardi-Landi and G. Trevisanato in 1935.
Diagonalriß, 5-, 4 hours, one of the big, classic climbs of the dolomites, done not so often but very recommended. First ascent by Kurt Kiene and Gabriel Haupt in 1912.
Schmittkamin, 4+, 3 hours, the route of the first ascent, demanding, the routes is on a most times wet chimney. Take care of rockfall from the regular route.
Daumenkante, 4-, 2 hours to the summit of the "Daumen" (thumb), 2 more hours to the main summit. This is the beginning of the famous traverse of the Fünffingerspitze, very popular and crowded but among the best climbs of this grade at the whole alps. There are bolted stances. First ascent by H. Huter, G. Jahn and D. Merlet in 1917.

Guidebook & Map

Anette Köhler, Norber Memmel; Dolomiten, Genussklettereien III-VI, Rother Selection, Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, München, ISBN 3-7633-3001-1
Richard Goedeke, Sella & Langkofel extrem, Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, München, ISBN 3-7633-1315-X

Map: Tabacco, Map 05 "Val Gardena & Alpe di Siusi"

First Ascent

The first ascent was done by Johann Santner and Robert Hans Schmitt in 1890 using the Schmittkamin route ("Schmitt chminey"), today rated UIAA 4+.

The "Diagonalriß" (UIAA 5+) was done by Kurt Kiene and Gabriel Haupt in 1912 and was one of the first "big" dolomite routes.

What's new

2004-05-10: added Latitude/Longitude (Thanks to Gangolf Haub for this information)
2009-03-19: mvs takes ownership of this fine page. Just a few changes so far.

External Links

Homepage of the Fassa-valley
Many informations (lodging, sports, hotels, ... )
Val di Fassa
An other page of the Fassa-valley with good informations.
Meteo Trentino
Weatherforcast Trentino

Images



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