So there I was, a week away from a trip where for the first time in 14 years I had no need to pack a camera and note book. It was going to be a holiday, with a partner, where I could just chill and enjoy the culture, location and company without the pressure of having to return with a feature for Adventure Travel magazine in the bag. Then the phone rang.
‘Alun, we’ve been let down on a Spam Challenge feature; can you do it’?
With that one sentence, Lara set in motion a change. What was to be a romantic, long weekend where the only planned activity involved fluttering eye lids over a bottle of red, was now off. Walking hand in hand along the shores of Lake Garda in Italy, skimming stones and kicking playfully around in the surf just wouldn’t cut it for an Adventure Travel feature. It was only when Shabs (the partner) pointed out that she was absolutely exhausted, had battered and bruised knees and hadn’t washed in three days (let alone fluttered her eyes over a bottle of red) that I realised, man, did we have a feature. And this is how it went.
From the outset, I wasn’t about to inflict the full damage that a Spam Challenge budget could do to a relationship. In addition, I wasn’t exactly sure if Shabs would recognise the romance of sleeping in a damp ditch beside some Italian road. So as a compromise I informed Lara I’d do the Spam but she’d have to increase the budget to the point where I had a chance of returning without a ‘Dear John’ letter in my pocket. Lara agreed to loosen the purse strings and I’d make sure we did something outdoorsy and not stay in any accommodation above two star. It was time to let Shabs know the good news.
‘So, tell me again Alun, just what are via ferrata and where are we going to sleep up in the mountains? Oh, and do I have to buy boots and will there be room for my hair straighteners’?
 Day 1
4.30 What can be more romantic, I ask you, than stumbling around Stansted rubbing sleep from your eyes at an ungodly hour on a Wednesday morning? Michael O’ Leary and Runonair (Ryanair) have some compassion, please. Stansted is the busiest I’ve ever seen it and there’s a heavy presence of Eastern European rockers dressed in leather jackets and tartan kilts all looking like Axel Rose from Guns and Roses. Also, I’ve just managed to pick up half a dozen zip lock bags for free at the security check in – ideal for stashing stuff when you’re going up in the mountains.
8.30 Hello Bergamo. We’ve managed to hire a car for just over 100 Euro and decided to drive to the Brenta Dolomites by way of Lake Garda. We’re both knackered and agree that it would be best to camp down in the valley at Madonna di Campiglio and have a good night’s sleep before heading up into the mountains.
14.00 Where are all the people? We’re sitting at a lakeside cafe in Riva del Garda at the start of the summer season and the place is almost deserted – I’ve seen more people here in October. A quick look around confirms there are more ducks on the lake than visitors. The lack of sleep due to the early morning Stansted flight and the searing heat is taking its toll; three cups of coffee raises my energy levels from comatose to lethargic. Mind you, Shabs is in fine form and looking forward to her first trip to the mountains.
18.00 Just arrived at the campsite near Madonna and it’s looking like Lake Garda. Huge thunderheads have started cracking overhead and the rain is torrential - classic late afternoon/early evening Dolomite weather. Every now and again the clouds drift apart and we get our first views of the mighty impressive peaks and spires above the town and Shabs takes in extra oxygen. ‘You mean we’re going up there’? My conscience gets the better of me and we check into a small two star hotel on the outskirts of town at a very reasonable 45 Euro for half board. Nice place too, the sort of place Agatha Christie would set an Italian whodunit and looking around the guests fit the bill too.
19.00 A quick trip up to the local Spar for supplies and the question has to be asked again – where are all the tourists? Madonna is like a ghost town. Back at the hotel a German biker has a smoker’s cough louder than his bike – I need to tape this guy and sell it as a ‘stop smoking’ CD.
21.00 There can’t be many finer spectacles in nature than what we are watching right now. We’re sitting on the hotel veranda watching one of the most powerful thunder storms I’ve ever witnessed. Forks of lightning are cracking into the high peaks at a rate of one every 20 seconds; the sky is coming alive with colour and the sound is second only to that of the chain smoking German biker. This storm has been going on for three hours and has not moved.
22.00 In bed and the weather is still performing outside. There’s an interesting programme on the TV featuring an Italian Circus where the acrobats are all dressed in Michael Jackson costumes and wigs – very strange. Night.
 Day 2
8.00 Good morning and a fine one it is too. The huge storm of last night has cleared the air, our rucksacks are packed and we’re ready for the hills and the mighty via ferrata of the Brenta Dolomites.
9.00 Not quite ready it appears. We only have one waterproof jacket between us and are standing outside a gear shop with a full on summer sale and jacket prices from 15 Euro. Can’t argue with that and we don't.
10.00 Things have changed since I was last here and in particular I’m talking about the prices. To park the car at the Groste Pass cable car station is 21 Euro and the lift ticket costs 30 Euro each. Also, the car park is nearly empty – just where are all the people?
11.00 We’re at the Groste Pass and just about to set off on the Benini via ferrata. There are only two other people up here and they are more interested in their dogs than the mountain trails. Shabs looks up for her first mountain expedition. Let’s go.
12.00 It’s midday and it’s boiling. I’d forgotten how long and hot the walk into the Benini could be. There are still patches of snow around and we’ve only passed two climbers coming in the opposite direction. After last night’s fireworks I’m keeping an eye out for cloud build up and I don’t have to be that observant; there are huge thunderheads pluming up in the distance but just whispy clouds over the Brenta right now.
12.15 Here they are, the start of the cables and Shabs’ first dice with a via ferrata, I hope she’s going to be okay, I’ve had a friend go all vertigo on me on this route in the past. To our left we have huge drops (maybe 500ft) and to our right the south face of the 2901m Cima Groste and our route follows a series of (wide) ledges with intermittent cable protection across the face. The scenery is stunning and the scale of the vertical nature of the mountains around here is breathtaking. We’re geared up, sweating and ready for the action.
13.15 Shabs has been doing fine, and she’s mighty impressed with the scenery. We’ve not seen another climber since the start and I’ve noticed that the cloud build up is gathering pace and they are starting to darken. Must speed up a little as we ascend the ledge cutting across the huge face of the 2999m Cima Falkner.
14.00 Ah, the voices we heard coming in the opposite direction turn out to be two old Italian guys, one of whom says he visited Britain for a conference on steel manufacturing 25 years ago. By strange coincidence the meeting had been in Stratford upon Avon, my adopted town. The older of the guys kisses Shabs’ hand in greeting – very Italian – and then warns us to get a move on as he’s sure the weather is set to storm, and soon. Having been caught out in a lightning storm on a via ferrata many years ago, I live in trepidation of another occurrence, it was absolutely terrifying.
15.00 We’re at the end of the via ferrata and it’s been a great success with Shabs only experiencing a couple of bruises on the knees but otherwise in fine form as we start the long descent through a snow slope to the Tucket Refuge. The girl done good.
16.30 It’s started to rain and the clouds have turned ugly; there’s fire and brimstone in the air. Once again, where are all the people? The Tucket Refuge is not even half full and we’re in the busy season. I’ve flashed my BMC card and we’re on for a 50% discount which makes a bed 8.50 Euro for a night. Not bad.
Day 3
9.30 First route this morning is the SOSAT and whilst the via ferrata section is not that long this is going to be a big jump in exposure and physical effort from yesterday. More people out and about today. We’ve just passed a group of five coming in the opposite direction and can see at least two parties of four ahead. Been telling Shabs about the treat she has in store in about five minutes.
9.35 Wow, this is more like it. Having spent the past hour or so heading up and over a shoulder of Punta Massari we’ve just climbed down through a narrow gully and there’s nothing below our feet other than a succession of ladders heading down a precipitous cliff face into a deep dark gully. Just checked with Shabs and she’s enjoying it. Great.
10.00 We’re half way down the gully and standing on a huge chock stone wedged between the cliff faces which allows you to cross from one side to the other. But we’re not alone down here, there’s a traffic jam waiting to overcome the next obstacle which happens to be a 60ft vertical ladder leading up to a ledge and the way out of the gully. I’m going to let Shabs go first here and follow up behind.
10.15 What a girl, she climbed the ladder no probs though says her forearms started to burn out towards the top – the vertical nature of the ladder means that you actually climb at a slightly overhanging angle. Well that’s the big test over for this morning, just a couple more short scrambles and then onto the Refuge Alimonte to take stock.
12.30 Having some cake at the Alimonte and debating whether to continue onto the Refuge Pedrotti. This would mean taking on the highlight of the trip this afternoon – the via ferrata Bocchette Centrali. Shabs is not too keen right now, the walk has been hard work and the heat is intense and there’s also some cloud build up on the high peaks. Decide to leave it for a while and reassess in 30 mins.
13.00 It’s a close call but we decide to go for it. The Bocchette should take around three hours and the Pedrotti is only another 15 mins walk from the end of the cables.
13.30 We’re half way up the glacier leading to the start of the Bocchette and I’m not sure we’ve made the right decision. The hike so far has been steep and exposed across almost vertical scree slopes and steep snow. Shabs is looking tired and stopping every couple of mins for a rest.
14.00 We’re up and over the initial exposed ladder section and on the first of the Bocchette ledges which have been carved out of the vertical cliff faces of Cima Dei Sflumini and Cima Brenta. No matter how many times I’ve done this route (it’s my 5th or 6th) the effect is the same. The brutal mountain scenery combined with the position and audacity of the lines taken by this via ferrata are nothing short of staggering. The surroundings have given Shabs a new bout of energy.
16.00 For the past two hours we have climbed and walked through what must be some of the finest, if not the finest, mountain vistas in the world. The scale of the vertical nature of the Brenta Dolomites is both intimidating, enthralling and earth shatteringly exciting and we’ve had it all to ourselves apart form a couple of other climbers we passed heading in the opposite direction. As I sit here below the enormous rock tower of the Campanile Basso I know that the scale of what my eyes are seeing just can’t be portrayed in any photograph. Shabs is in awe of the place but her legs are getting tired. She’s also performed great as there are quite a few unprotected and very exposed parts on this route which need steady nerves and feet.
18.00 We’re at the Pedrotti and once again – where are all the people? I have never, ever, known the Brenta Dolomites to be so quiet. If this is a sign of the times then all I can say is take the opportunity now to fly out and experience these mountains without the crowds.
 Day 4
14.00 After another night of spectacular thunder storms (not that Shabs knew anything about it) we’ve walked back to the cable car and are just about to re-enter the world of hair straighteners and showers. The plan is to drive down to Bergamo, find a cheap hotel and have a bottle of red before we fly back tomorrow.
21.00 What a find. I’d never considered Bergamo to be anything other than an industrial satellite town for Milan. How wrong could I be? Whilst the ‘new’ part of town is like any other ‘new’ town, the old city up on the hill is Italy at its best. Narrow cobbled streets, great architecture and not a fast food outlet or chain store in sight. And as for the hotel we’ve found, it is fantastic. The old guy on the desk has owned it for 45 years and from what I can tell everything he’s ever bought or owned in that time is hanging on the walls – it’s just full of the sort of character and mood you don’t get in new or chain hotels. Marvellous.
23.00 Great food, great wine, great company and we’ve climbed the best via ferrata in the world. Just need to have a bath now.
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