Via Ferratas Italian Dolomites: Vol 1

Covers the North, Central and Eastern Dolomites, across an area stretching from Val di Fassa to Auronzo. These protected routes provide exhilarating views and exposure. The guide sets the routes out according to strategic valley bases. Routes are graded for both technical difficulty and for ‘seriousness’, indicating the mountain terrain and commitment involved.

Tabacco Carta Topographica (1:25,000)

Sheets: 01, 03, 05, 07, 10, 16, 17

Visitors to the Italian Dolomites are well served by mapmakers, and any good book shop should provide a range of products. For general orientation and travelling around the region it is hard to beat the road maps produced by the Italian Touring Club (TCI) at a scale of 1:200,000. Of the road maps and atlases published in Britain (there are many available) you might consider that by the AA at a scale of 1:250,000, the Michelin Road Atlas of Europe at a scale of 1:1,000,000 or even a computer product such as Microsoft AutoRoute Express.

There is also a choice of the more detailed maps needed for exploration of the mountain areas, with accurate and well-drawn maps available at both 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 scale. The complex nature of the terrain requires the larger scale map out on the hills (despite the need to buy more maps to cover any given area), although the 1:50,000 maps are perhaps a better option back in the valley for gaining an overview of a particular area.

Availability is rarely a problem, even in fairly small settlements. Virtually all outdoor equipment shops, most newsagents and gift shops, and even many supermarkets stock local maps. To get hold of the relevant maps beforehand in order to plan ahead, contact the major UK-based map suppliers, such as Stanford’s and the Map Shop in Upton on Severn (see Appendix 5). They can often provide what you need by return of post. Both of these companies also maintain good web sites, though maps will invariably be much cheaper if they are bought in Italy.

The two major publishers for the Dolomites are Tabacco and Kompass. Each has its adherents, but there is little to choose between them in terms of quality. Both offer good products which are easy to read, although neither can match the Ordnance Survey or Swiss maps for detail and accuracy. Neither series includes UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) or latitude/longitude co-ordinates. Perhaps superior are the Freytag & Berndt maps, although these are not widely available locally and are only published at 1:50,000 scale. They do, however, include co-ordinates to satisfy aficionados of GPS. Probably best of all are the Alpenvereinskart maps, also including co-ordinates, but these are only available for the Brenta and for the Langkofel/Sella area. (Note: at the time of publication, the latest editions of the Tabacco 1:25000 series of maps are showing grid references. GPS users should set datum to European 1950, Eur50, ED50 or Europ).

Magnetic variation: Magnetic variation in this part of Europe is quite minimal (around one degree west) and is not generally referred to on maps. You may find this a little strange if you are used to using your compass for route-finding in the UK, but navigating with a compass is something you rarely need to do in the Dolomites. Even if you take your compass with you, you are more likely to navigate by getting your map, finding a path and following red markers, a valley, a ridge or (the reason for this guidebook) via ferrata cables!

Finally, a word of warning about the use of place names on maps. In those areas which were historically Austrian, many settlements and natural features such as mountains have both an Italian and a German-language name. Both appear on maps, and – depending on where you are and to whom you are speaking – Tre Cime di Lavaredo might well be referred to as Drei Zinnen. This guide gives both the Italian and German names on first usage, but thereafter reverts to the Italian name only.

It is also worth noting that there is a wide variation in the way place names are spelled: maps produced by different publishers, or even different editions from the same publisher, frequently use different spelling forms. While this can be confusing, the authors cannot be held to account for any apparent variation in name forms.