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Piz Ciavazes is the massive block of limestone just west of Piz Pordoi. The Sella Towers are its westernmost outcropping.
Its tremendous South Face contains many routes that span a wide range of difficulty. None of the popular routes actually climb
Piz Ciavazes; they go up about half of the South Face and end at the amazing ledge called the `Gamsband', or Chamois Ledge.
The entire length of the ledge contains a trail that conveniently takes one back to the easy descent routes below the
Sella Towers.
A word on alpine ratings .
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The South Face of Piz Ciavazes from the Sella Pass Road |
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Party: Dietrich, Paul, and Monique Belitz
Route: Little Micheluzzi
Equipment: alpine rack
Comments: We climbed as a three-person team with two single ropes. Time includes waiting in line for a total of about 90 minutes
Time: Start of route - Gamsband 5 hrs 45 mins
Gamsband - Sella Pass Road 1 hr 30 mins
Trip report:
We had planned to do the Third Sella Tower, but cold and windy weather drove us around the corner to the sunny,
south facing Little Micheluzzi. Paul and I had climbed this route the year before, and we remembered the upper
three pitches fondly. As on our previous climb, we were behind a large group of Swiss, but this year's group were
very nice, so we did not mind waiting in line quite a bit.
We switched the leads around from what we had done last year, so Paul started out, then I led the second pitch with
its succession of chimneys. After that we could have run up the easy gully pitches, except that the Swiss had by now
hit the harder upper pitches and were producing a traffic jam. It seemed forever until Paul got to the cave belay that
marks the start of the interesting sections, and when Monique started to follow she promptly got stuck in an offwidth
and had some trouble extracting herself. This time Paul led the first and third of the harder pitches, while I took the
middle one, and we discovered that on this climb one considers the crux whatever one happens to lead. The climbing on
all three of the upper pitches is very good, though. Soon we climbed the steep grass slopes up to the Gamsband or
Chamoix Ledge, which we followed back to the descent below the Second Sella Tower.
Party: Dietrich and Paul Belitz
Route: Little Micheluzzi
Equipment: alpine rack
Time:
Trip report: This was our last day in the Dolomites, and since Monique was still sick, Paul and I
started out alone to do the Little Micheluzzi. So far all other parties we had met had been extremely nice people, but here we
finally ran into the legendary European asshole climbers, incarnated in a large and extremely unpleasant group of Swiss. They
insisted on passing me at the first belay by lowering their leader down the short downclimbing section, and generally made
a nuisance of themselves. The weather looked stable, so we sat down for a while and admired the views of the Marmolada to put
some distance between them and us. The next pitches proved a bit disappointing, as they were low-angled and dirty. The upper
three pitches, however, were superb. Great rock, a steep line, a lot of exposure, nontrivial route finding, and reasonable
protection blended into a great experience. By now we felt extremely comfortable on this grade, and ready to try something
harder, but it was time to go home. While hiking the Gamsband to the descent gullies we vowed to be back next year.
Photo Gallery:
Click the thumbnails to see a higher resolution image.
Monique at the base of the route
Dietrich leading the second pitch
Paul following the second pitch
Monique on the third pitch
Oh no, she's stuck!
Paul leading the first IV+ pitch
Paul following the second IV+ pitch
Paul high on the second IV+ pitch
Paul belaying high on the route
Dietrich following the last pitch
Monique and Paul on the Gamsband
The Gamsband. Marmolada in background.
Date: June 26, 2003
