Via Ferrata Pitla Gran Cir + Gran Cir Scramble
Base Town: Ortisei in Val Gardena, South Tyrol; Trailhead: Passo Gardena; Transportation to Trailhead: local valley bus
Like the short-and-sweet via ferrata at Col Rodella at Sella Pass, Pitla Gran Cir is another course worth doing for its spectacular views across Gardena Pass, which divides the Sella Group and Puez-Odel Nature Park. Similar to via ferrata Oskar Schuster, the assisted climbing course at Pitla Gran Cir pre-dates World War I and was built for fun and adventure by alpine climbing pioneers in the late 1800’s. It’s great for beginners, but still has some thrills for more experienced climbers, so it’s a popular area!
Passo Gardena, South Tyrol, Italian Dolomites
We took the local bus from Ortisei to Val Gardena, then rode the Dantercepies lift up to the base of the mountain. Gloves, helmet, harness and carabiners are essential on this course due to the busy nature of the route and the amount of loose rock; especially on the descent, we found gloves to be particularly useful. It was not particularly technical, but it took us about 45 minutes to reach the cross at the top due to a lot of time spent waiting for other less-experienced climbers. It seems that Via ferrata Pitla Gran Cir is the go-to place for “learn how to climb” tours.
Watching the beginners “learning the ropes” was entertaining… and waiting gave us plenty of time to take in the awesome views.
Pinch me, I’m dreaming! Summit of Pitla Gran Cir
After the slippery descent down a narrow, rocky gully back onto the green grass, we followed a path over to Gran Cir, a nearby peak. The switchback ascent goes up, up and up. It’s a beautiful and less-trafficked hike that takes your breath away ‘cause it’s so scenic and steep! There are a few assisted sections that are probably useful in inclement weather, but we felt safe not using our gear (other than helmets). After much huffing and puffing, we reached a ledge just under the peak, where we had lunch and tossed a few crumbs to a curious chipmunk and a couple of birds who dropped in. A few minutes later, we were atop Gran Cir and identifying all the prominent regional landmarks: Puez-Odel, Sassolungo, Sella Group, Seceda, and Alpe di Siusi. From here, you can see it all!
Puez-Odle Nature Park from top of Gran Cir
The Gran Cir hike round-trip took us about 3 hours - quite a bit longer than the via ferrata on Pitla Gran Cir. Combining both made for a rewarding day - fun climbing, some scrambling, an aggressive hike, and insane views!
We were finished by late afternoon. We rode the cable car back to Gardena Pass and returned to our base town of Ortisei via a local bus. The next day, we combined Seceda and via ferrata Sas Rigas for another spectacular and scenic day…
