This September, 9 members of the young alpinist group converged on Canazei to explore adventurous climbing amongst the mythical spires of the Dolomites.

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Wary of inclement weather the team tore straight into the climbing, making the most of wall-to-wall sunshine and blue skies to get accustomed to the intricacies of Dolomite climbing. It’s a special venue that demands strong footwork and a keen eye for a thread, which can be crucial to making some of these notoriously bold pitches more manageable.
During that initial weather window, we witnessed some successful ascents around Passo Sella, Tofana di Rosez and the South Face of Marmolada.  

Will and Michael climbed Don Quixote on the Marmolada, Anna and Naoise climbed Bachi de Honolulu into Alfa on Piz Ciavesaas (7b+) and Constantini-Apollonio on Tofana di Rozes (VII+). James, Michael and Sinead teamed up to climb the classic Messner route on the 2nd Sella Tower.
Later we had 3 teams on the shaded walls of Torre Brunico climbing Ottovolante (7a+) and Oltre la Porta (6c+).

 

Cultural tour to Ziano Di Fiemme, the home of La Sportiva:
On a rest day we visited the La Sportiva factory where each boot, sold globally, is meticulously manufactured. We were given a fascinating tour through the design and manufacturing process and learned of their history at the cutting edge of every mountaineering footwear innovation since the 1920s.
La Sportiva have been very generous in their support of YAG and while we were there, they fitted us out in Boots for some exciting trips that we have in the works for this coming winter and spring.

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As the weather took an unpredictable turn we embraced the downtime, getting to know each other at our shared chalet, talking over systems and making plans for the rest of the trip and beyond. We sampled some steep dryish sport crags nearby and some hungry souls pulled the tools out to swing around on some hard drytooling.

 

Finally, the weather improved enough to head back on the faces and spires that we came for.  
On separate trips, 2 teams headed into Vallaccia to climb some more recently developed routes in a wild-feeling corner of the Dolomites.  There, we climbed Via Giove (VII+) and Monologica (7c) where Anna and Adam made a valiant effort before being turned around after Anna pulled a massive block which sent her for a big whip off the roof.
During this period, Sinead and James also climbed the Vinatzer / Messner on the Marmolada; spending a cozy night on the midway ledges with a stash of bivvy kit they found.

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Having heard of high-quality crack-climbing near Bolzano, five headed for Pareti di Monticolo in search of red volcanic rock and splitter cracks. We climbed Cojote (7a); about 6 pitches of splitter cracks varying from fingers to full body off-width on a unique red volcanic rock band right above the sprawling rows of vineyards.

To round off the trip we had some good efforts and challenging conditions on Tre Cime and Marmolada;
George and Gemma climbed the Hasse-Brandler on Tre Cime while Sinead and James tackled the classic Comici-Dimai.
Meanwhile, Adam and Anna raced bad weather on the South face of the Marmolada; managing to get through all but one crux before having to descend to the fish ledge for a shiver-bivvy as the weather closed in.

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Despite some challenging weather it was a great trip exploring those mythical peaks but most importantly, it was a brilliant opportunity to get to know each other better and make plans for upcoming trips; exciting things to come in the next 12 months.