Home»Dolomites, Trento & Venice 2019»Day 2: Lifts and light hiking in the Val di Fassa

While we had some hiking plans, we wanted to get our bearings first.

1. Catinaccio/Rosengarten cable car (from Vigo): We purchased the passes at our local station, so we decided to start with a quick trip up for a look around the expansive alm, Ciampedie, at the base of the “rose garden” - named derived from the legend of King Laurin and the color of the evening light on the rocks. Gorgeous…we’d be back.

2. Sass Pordoi cable car (from Passo Pordoi): This is an E-ticket attraction that ascends to the Rifugio Maria at the top of the Sella Massif. Ten years ago, our apartment in Selva had a view of the Sella. Going up to the top had been on our “list,” but we ran out of time. True to the photos we’d seen, it is an otherworldly landscape up there. There is a rather challenging circular hike around the top of the Sella Massif, but since we were just getting started, we opted a shorter hike down to and then back up from Rifugio Forcella Pordoi. By this time, the clouds were thickening, and the view of Marmolada to the south was more obscured than not.

3. Col Rodella cable car (from Campitello):After taking a moment to eat our sandwiches on the deck at summit, we walked down through cow pastures and in the direction of the Sella Pass and the famous “flying phone booths.” We could see that the cabins have been replaced since our last visit but are still small, standing tele-cabins. Fortunately, there is a chair lift back up to Rodella, where we needed to return in order to get back down to the valley and our car. We had some rain during our walk.

4. Baffaure cabin lift/Col Valvacin chair lift (from Pozza): As we drove further south, the clouds looked to be clearing a bit, so we decided to ride this gondola up from Pozza. When we got to the top, we also found that, in addition to a rifugio and playground, there is a chair lift that goes much, much higher. Up we went. A short walk from that station revealed a spectacular, almost 360-degree panorama. And unlike Sass Pordoi, there were very few people there.

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