Like a Rolling Stone...

Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall (Pride Goeth Before the Fall - see the end of the TR)

Do you know what it feels like to be like a rolling stone? I'm not talking about Mick, Keith, Ron and Charlie, I rather mean the real thing, tumbling down a mountain slope without the means to stop yourself, going on and just hoping that something will stop your roll, hoping also that this something is not too massive or spiky so that it won't break anything valuable in your body.

I experienced the literal application of the above German proverb when doing the Giro del Pelmo roundtrip around Monte Pelmo. I can tell you, you would think twice about wishing to be rolling stone. But let's turn back the hands of time and start where we ought to....


Half the First

Circling Pelmo has been on our wish list ever since my girlfriend Judith's sister did the roundtrip two years ago. Judith is a great circler of mountains, always on the lookout for a possibility while checking the maps. Pelmo itself is quite above our league of climbing but the round trip is possible, a one day affair. I was not too keen on it since the main attraction would be Pelmo and the map told me that we would be up real close, too close for a good overview (or photo) of the mountain. Our trip planning however is a game of give and take and in order to be allowed to do some ferrate I knew I had to give in on this one, which I did early on. You want to have some advance on your adversary....

So July 15th 2005 saw us heading out early from Falcade where we had an apartment and do the 90 min trip to Forca Staulanza, where we (and just about everybody else) wanted to start the trip. We arrived quite late (around 10 a.m.) and as we were preparing to get going a troupe of French hikers left the Forca in the same direction. Bummer! Large groups travel slowly, we caught up with them in no time but passing them took us 10 minutes. With many a "Laissez passer!" we finally passed them and trudged on through the forest.

Yes, forest it was, no views so far but a glimpse at the surroundings had told us before that this was not a day for perfect views. You had to look for other excitement, which I finally managed to do but I'll come to that later. Nature called and after having completed our little businesses the French guys had caught up again. We just made it and hurried onwards to get rid of the yak-yakking behind us. The average German likes to enjoy nature in silence.

Next stop - it was getting warm and we needed to zip off the legs of our pants. The brabbling drew nearer again but this time it was in Italian. Two guys caught up with us but stayed behind us for quite a while before we gave up and headed for the bushes to let them pass. Italians seem to be on automatic when it comes to talking. No idea how they do it but I tend to have to catch my breath every now and again.

Having by now done about half of the circle we still hadn't caught any presentable view. Pelmo, Pelmetto, Civetta and Tamer: all were shrouded in clouds. But now, as we reached Passo di Rutorto and Rifugio Venezia the southern Dolomiti d'Ampezzo came into view. A bit hidden in the haze but still - I had never seen Antelao or the Marmarole up close and this side of Sorapiss was new to me too. I certainly would have enjoyed the view hadn’t there been a busload of kids in the Rifugio - screaming and shouting at the tops of their little voices. Aaarghh! Brats!

The eastern Dolomiti d'Ampezzo as seen during the ascent to Forcella Val d'Arcia. Cristallo, Sorapiss, Cima Bel Pra and Antelao