Overview
The Route through the west face of Col da la Pieres |
Ranked as an easy ferrata,
Nivesschartensteig / Sentiero Forcella Nivea actually is a short protected hike between
Forca de la Roa and
Nivesscharte / Forcella Nivea exacttly on the boundary between the
Geisler / Odle - and
Puez - Groups of the western
Dolomites. Over the years, however, the name has been extended to describe a long and very scenic ridge traverse climbing four mountains on the western boundary of the Puez Group:
Munt dla Stevia,
Muntiscella,
Col dlaa Pieres and
Piz Duleda. The route is a patchwork of smaller routes and trails and thus there are several alternatives cutting short this long dayhike.
Nevertheless, guidebooks seem to have agreed on a start to
Forcella dla Piza / Nadelscharte, skipping the first summit,
Munt dla Stevia, while also leaving out the highpoint,
Piz Duleda at the end. The route described here tries to take into account all possible variations.
In general the route is a hike but there are several sections which are a bit tricky. The ascent to
Forcella dla Piza / Nadelscharte is very brittle (scree gully), the descent from
Col dla Pieres is exposed and should be done only if the conditions are right and in the vicinity of
Forcella Forces di Sielles the rock condition is so poor that the route has been protected with cables there. The summit of
Piz Duleda can be reached across a short exposed section but in the end the views from this perfect lookout make you forget the trouble you had to take to get there.
Getting There
Wolkenstein / Selva di Gardena 2000m beneath the Langkofel summit
Trailhead for
Nivesschartensteig is
Wolkenstein / Selva di Val Gardena. All alternative routes start here or in the hamlet
Daunei above Wolkenstein.
- Take the Brenner Motorway A22 to the exit of Waidbruck / Ponte Gardena.
- Turn onto S242 east to Wolkenstein / Selva di Val Gardena.
Route Description
The Geisler Group seen above Forcella Forces di Sielles. The route to the right
- General:
- Start altitude: 1721m (Daunei)
- Summit altitude: 2909m
- Prevailing exposure: West
- Type: Protected Hike
- Protection: Few sections
- Effort: 4 - Elevation gain: 1570m
- Power: 3 - Long and strenuous
- Psyche: 2 - Moderately exposed in several places
- Difficulty: 2 - Easy
- Orientation: 2 - Easy but for the immediate vicinity of Nivesscharte / Forcella Nivea
There are several alternatives how to start
Nivesschartensteig, all but one of which start above the hamlet
Daunei near
Wolkenstein / Selva Gardena.
Via Ferrata Sandro Pertini
The sole exception is
Via Ferrata Sandro Pertini, which has been described in a separate route page. It joins two of the other alternatives in the vicinity of
Stevia Hut. The
Pertini Ferrata is a fairly recent addition to the routes onto
Munt dla Stevia. It also is rather more difficult than the remainder of the
Nivesschartensteig Route.
Troi San Salvester
This is the usual route onto
Munt dla Stevia. Hike northward into
Cislestal Val Clsles out from
Daunei. After less than 1km the route starts going in a bend, heading up the west face of
Pela de Vit. It finally heads south-westward towards
Sylvesterscharte, from where a moderately exposed path leads you to
Stevia Hut.
Expresssteig
Expresssteig also starts at
Daunei but leaves the normal route only after a few steps (marked 3 soth-westward. It runs very steeply through the Stevia west face until it reaches
Sylvesterscharte. There are some amazing views of
Grödnertal / Val Gardena far below. From the saddle it joins the normal route to head to
Stevia Hut. From the hut turn northward across the sloped meadows of
Stevia-Alm until you reach the west face ridge close to
Forcella dla Piza / Nadelscharte.
Forcella dla Piza / Nadelscharte
Again, from
Daunei, head into
Cislestal / Val Cisles but stay on trail no. 3 until you reach the intersection just to the east of
Regensburger Hütte / Rifugio Firenze. Here turn onto trail no. 4, which heads up the brittle scree slopes underneath
Forcella dla Piza / Nadelscharte. It is a very strenuous scramble, which is also quite dangerous in the gully right underneath the needle in the saddle, which gave rise to its name.
Forcella dla Piza / Nadelscharte to Col dla Pieres
From the saddle the combined route now runs in a large bend to the right of the
Stevia / Montischela summit ridge. The regular trail skips the
Montischela Summit but a short scramble can take you there. Afterwards the trail heads southwards towards a small buttress in the west face of
Col dla Pieres. Here some wooden steps take you across the steepest section onto a ramp, which takes you through the west face of the mountain. Several switchbacks lead through a wide couloir to the summit cross. This cross is not located at the highest point of
Col dla Pieres but rather in a spot where it can be seen from the valley floor. The real (very broad) summit is located a bit to the north-east.
Geisler Group and Puez northern summits from Col de la Pieres |
Col dla Pieres to Forcella Forces de Sielles
From the summit a path leads to the east heading for the northernmost spot of the plateau-like top of
Col dla Pieres. Here a rather steep path leads through the north face of the mountain in two switchbacks. In dry conditions the path is easy and not too dangerous but wet or even snowy conditions require the proper equipment. Before you head onto the rout it is good to scout snow conditions in this place. Once at the bottom of the huge face the path heads onto a rocky but brittle ridge, which takes it to
Forcella Forces de Sielles. The last steps have been secured by cables right up to the saddle.
Langental seen from Forcella Forces die Sielles
Forcella Forces de Sielles to Nivesscharte / Forcella Nivea
You remain on the north running ridge, where another protected section takes you across the most “difficult” parts. Soon the ridge runs out onto a sloped karst plateau, across which a well marked path leads. In places orientation gets a bit ambiguous as far too many cairns lead the way. After two large steps you reach the area of
Nivesscharte / Forcella Nivea, where the density of cairns is ridiculous. The official
Nivesschartensteig turns off left but if you plan to go to
Piz Duleda, stay northward bound.
Piz Duleda
From
Nivesscharte / Forcella Nivea head northward. There is another terrain step until you reach the almost flat section just beneath the summit. The path leads to a secondary summit to the east of the real one before heading towards a narrow rock bridge which connects to the real summit. There is some moderate exposure on the bridge but none on the summit, even though west, north and east faces drop steeply for several hundred metres.
Piz Duleda is one of the most fascinating lookout peaks in this section of the
Dolomites. Return to
Nivesscharte / Forcella Nivea by the way you came.
Nivesschartensteig / Sentiero Forcella Nivea
There are two options to descend back to
Daunei. Either head back to
Forcella Forces de Sielles from where a steep westerly descent takes you to
Regensburger Hütte / Rifugio Firenze or head onto the “real”
Nivesschartensteig / Sentiero Forcella Nivea, after which the whole patchwork of routes has been named. This is a protected trail which heads steeply down through a couloir onto a ledge, which takes you all the way to
Forcella de la Roa, the pronounced saddle which separates the
Geisler / Odle Group from the
Puez Group. Here you have a last view of the alpine main ridge to the north before heading onto trail no. 3, which takes you to
Regensburger Hütte / Rifugio Firenze and on to
Daunei. This last section is seriously boring unless you hike it in late spring / early summer when the meadows are blooming with thousands of orchids.
The Fermeda Towers of the Geisler Group seen during the descent from Nivesscharte Essential Gear
Bring hiking equipment. Ferrata gear is not required unless you opt for the
Pertini Ferrata. In that case it will be nearly impossible to hike the whole route, even on a long June day. Food and drink as well as warm clothing are required (Col dla Pieres and Piz Duleda).