Via Ferrata Santner
Base Town: Vigo di Fassa in Val di Fassa, South Tyrol; Transportation: Catinaccio cable car to Valle di Vajolet and then foot to Rifugio Vajolet; Loop Trail from Rifugio Vajolet (traversing Passo di Coronella and Santner Pass) ~5 hours
VF Santner Loop Trail from Rif. Vajolet
There are many starting points for Via Ferrata Santner, which is a class B/C rated assisted climbing route in Schlern-Rosengarten Nature Park in the Italian Dolomites. During our Unusual 5 Night Trek in Rosengarten, we opted to do a full loop route starting from Rifugio Vajolet. The initial ascent to Passo Coronelle traverses below the massive Rosengarten vertical WALL on the west side of Valle di Vajolet.
Then it’s up and over Coronelle Pass, with impressive views: Valle di Vajolet and Valle di Tires. Some cable is provided for the steep and rocky descent in the initial few meters, which can be a bit treacherous. Thereafter, it’s another long but straight-forward walk along the opposite side of Rosengarten, above Val di Tires.
Above Fronza Hut, the clearly-visible path traces the skirt of Rosengarten, ascending continuously upwards toward a stack of pinnacles the distance. The path becomes steeper and rockier, transitioning into an unprotected rock scramble/climb. The scramble is steep and often squeezes between narrow chokepoints; we were glad that we didn’t have large backpacks. We had met some Americans a few days prior who had ascended VF Santner with fully-loaded backpacks. They confirmed that it was an arduous climb when heavily weighed down. Since we had only day packs, the lengthy scramble was a fun new experience, giving us a taste for unprotected rock climbing.
The via ferrata starts in the shadows of the rocky spires in the crevices below Passo Santner. The course is relatively short, but full of interesting little challenges to navigate. The climb up through the tall, skinny pinnacles is other-worldly. Gloves are recommended, especially for some down-climbing cable sections, and a helmet is a good idea in the narrow, rocky crevices below the pass.
We emerged around mid-afternoon with a final scramble to the top of the Pass over loose limestone. We sauntered over to the rifugio for a mid-point rest, some beverages and kaiserschmarren dessert, which is similar to a crumbled pancake with powdered sugar and berry compote.
Rifugio Santner’s light-wood and steel design is aesthetically clean and cozy. We lingered on the back deck — with views uninterrupted to Bolzano! — for about an hour. Refreshed, we completed the day’s hiking loop all-downhill to Rifugio Alberto, past the imposing towers of Vajolet, and back down the cliff to Rif. Vajolet, arriving around 4:30 p.m. The entire loop took about 5 walking hours, with plenty of photo stops.
Side Note: Our original intention had been to do Via Ferrata Santer while staying at Alberto Hut. After arriving at Alberto Hut on Day 1 of our Unusual 5 Night Trek in Rosengarten, we hiked up to Santner Pass ready to climb down and then back up the via ferrata. Technically, this is possible, but several sources (including Alberto Hut managers) strongly recommended we follow the local etiquette and approach the via ferrata uni-directionally, climbing up to the Pass from below. Since most climbers are approaching the pass from below, going down into the gully means climbing against the flow. It’s not impossible, just awkward and not standard protocol. Not wanting to be “those rude foreigners”, we opted to wait until day 3 of our Unusual 5 Night Trek in Rosengarten. Since the course ended up being fairly short anyways, we enjoyed it as part of our longer loop hike to/from Rifugio Vajolet.
