Blog Posts in Category: Dolomites

Col Rodella XC Paragliding

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Paragliding Short Link

I had been hoping to paraglide in the Dolomites this autumn, but due to poor weather there hadn’t been any opportunities and I thought the chance was going to escape me this autumn. However thankfully at the start of October there was a brief improvement in the weather, which actually coincided with a good airmass fly XC paragliding. I even already had holiday booked off, as I was on the waitlist for an SIV course, but as 3 days before I still didn’t have a space, I changed my plans and headed to the Dolomites instead. There was only really one day for good XC flying, the second day was a hike&fly day, so I was a bit disappointed to wake up feeling pretty rough after a bad nights sleep. After a frustrating morning sat at take off waiting for a persistent inversion to lift, I finally had the chance to launch. Post launch I very nearly bombed straight out down to the valley, but with some fighting got back up to launch and caught a thermal which took me up through the inversion. At this point everything started to. Read the full article…

Col Bel Hike&Fly (Val di Fassa, Dolomites)

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Paragliding, Walking Short Link

After a brilliant day flying the previous day, I was unsure of what do do on my second and final day in the Dolomites as the airmass was not predicted to be very good. I was even debating if I should just head back and fly in Austria on the way home so that I got back to Munich at a more reasonable hour. As I left the hotel I had decided that I was going to head to fly at Rofan above Achensee, until I had a sudden brainwave. I realised that I was focussing too much on thermal flying, and an alternative, and equally good way to spend the day was to do a hike and fly. Which would enable me to soak up more of the wonderful scenery on offer in the Dolomites. I found this really useful page on FassaFly and decided to head up Col Bel, as it worked well with the wind direction, was a decent walk and was meant to have stunning views. I actually elected to climb the mountain via a slightly different route, as it meant that I ascended up a. Read the full article…

Sellaronda Ski Circuit

Alastair BegleyDolomites, Skiing Short Link

Since doing the Sellaronda in the summer a few years ago on my bike I had been very keen to return in Winter to do the ski circuit. After Becky had made huge progress with her skiing this year we decided to do the anti-clockwise version on her birthday weekend in Italy. Due to the cold temperatures and lack of precipitation, combined with the snow making on the route the conditions were just about perfect with excellent piste conditions, wall to wall sunshine and not too many people. The morning started off pretty chilly, but with plenty of sunshine and empty pistes. We started from Corvara so it was a bit of a slow start with lots of fairly short lifts, but this gave us plenty of time to admire the wonderful scenery. Once we were at the top of the first pass the skiing to lift ratio improved dramatically and we started to make good progress around the route. The scenery remained fantastic and was always changing due to the circular route. Mid morning we stopped off for a coffee and some brunch to keep the energy levels high,. Read the full article…

Summer Holiday 2020 Summary

Alastair BegleyBavaria, Dolomites, Landscape, Mountaineering, Rock Climbing, Via Ferrata Short Link

We have recently finished a brilliant holiday in the German Alps and the Dolomites. It was great to have a holiday with excellent conditions after the mixed year so far due to Coronavirus. This post contains a summary of the photos from the trip in 27 photos. We started the trip with a day trip into the Bavarian Alps from Munich, due to the next 2 days having pretty poor weather (and the only bad weather we had on the trip). Mittenwalder Höhenweg Klettersteig After a day in Munich we then drove down to the Brenta Dolomites to do a hut-to-hut trip through the high mountains. These via ferratas are very different to the rest of the Dolomites and can be best described as ledges and ladders in surreal positions. The two day trip through the mountains was incredible and is highly recommended. Brenta Dolomites Day 1/2: Sentiero Alfredo Benini & Sentiero Bocchette Alte Sunset, Astro and Sunrise from Rifugio Alimonta Brenta Dolomites Day 2/2: Via delle Bocchette Centrale We then had a relocation day to the central Dolomites. For the rest of the trip we based ourselves in the. Read the full article…