Dolomites, Italy
Tre Cime di Lavaredo, 2999 m
Successful first ascent of the Skyline Traverse from pass to pass – the longest enchainment on Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
Sitting in front of Locatelli hut a few years ago and looking at the fantastic panorama of the north faces of Tre Cime, I noticed a line that still fascinates me today: The skyline of all the peaks from pass to pass – from the western Forcella Col di Mezzo over all nine visible peaks to the eastern Forcella Lavaredo. How great would it be to climb this traverse along the skyline one day?
The two common traverses that have been climbed so far are the classic enchainment of the small east-west traverse (Cima Piccolissima, Punta di Frieda, Cima Piccola) and the large west-east traverse (Cima Ovest, Cima Grande, Cima Piccola, Punta di Frieda, Cima Piccolissima). Both traverses have been climbed in summer as well as in winter on different routes.
After intensive research, it turned out that the Skyline Traverse had not been climbed yet. This suspicion was confirmed when I was looking for a climbable connection between Torre Comici and Cima Ovest together with Christian Bickel last year during an ascent of the Dülfer/Harrer route on Cima Ovest. The only direct connection runs through a deeply incised gorge. Due to the onset of bad weather, however, we were ultimately unable to realise our plan last year.
In mid-July 2024, we were both active for preparatory work on Tre Cime to set up a new rap line down from Torre Comici into the gorge to Cima Ovest – to close the missing connection. On another day, we improved the abseil belays at Punta di Frieda down to the rope pendulum through the gorge to Cima Piccolissima (we set up and supplemented the abseil belays with slings and pitons).
We then successfully climbed the Skyline Traverse over the nine peaks from the western to the eastern pass on 23 and 24 July. We set off at around 4:00 in the morning from Forcella Col di Mezzo. After the first two peaks, we quickly got into a climbing flow that accompanied us over all the peaks. Even a broken rope, which we had to accept due to a rockfall in the abseil gorge after the fourth summit on Torre Comici, couldn't stop us from climbing. Bad weather with heavy rain forced us to make an early bivouac in the area of the cavern after reaching the summit of Cima Ovest, from where we continued climbing the next morning. The Skyline Traverse is more than just a route – due to its length, it is a fantastic journey through the different eras of climbing history on the Tre Cime di Lavaredo.
Start: Forcella Col di Mezzo, 2315m
1. Torre Lavaredo pre summit (helmet), 2500m
1. Torre Lavaredo, 2536m
3. Sasso di Landro, 2763m
4. Torre Comici, 2780m
5. Cima Ovest, 2973m
6. Cima Grande, 2999m
7. Cima Piccola, 2857m
8. Punta di Frieda, 2792m
9. Cima Piccolissima, 2700m
Finish: Forcella Lavaredo, 2454m
Summary:
With the Skyline Traverse we didn't want to set a new speed record on Tre Cime, nor climb the highest difficulties, but rather climb one of the most obvious lines, the Tre Cime skyline from pass to pass.
This text was published in various magazines and online forums. More information below.
Facts
Let’s see where it is:
First ascent:
23. – 24. Juli 2024, together with Christian Bickel.
Difficulty:
Total time: 23 hours
Total altitude: 2030 m ascending + 1890 m abseiling and descending
Difficulty: up to French 6a
We climbed the entire route in approach shoes.
More information about the Skyline Traverse on Tre Cime di Lavaredo:
» Interview report about the Skyline Traverse
» Press reports about this first ascent
» Webcam view from Locatelli hut (www.south-tirol.com …)
Caution:
Due to the UNESCO status of “Dolomites World Heritage Site”, the region of Tre Cime di Lavaredo in particular are hopelessly overcrowded during the summer holiday season. Please do yourself and the locals a favor and avoid a visit during this time. The low season is certainly the best time to be there.
Parking fees from the toll road in 2024: 60 €/day.
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