A note from the SP staff
Stefan Weber, the member we all used to know from his climbing pseudonym kletterwebbi, died on May 28th 2004 in southern France at the age of 37.

Stefan joined SP early on in 2002 and contributed a number of excellent pages and routes to this site. He was an accomplished climber excelling in difficult alpine and technical routes. The Dolomites, especially the area around Gröden / Val Gardena were special to him, as it was his old ancestral home.

kletterwebbi was always willing to share his knowledge and experience with other climbers, mainly here on SP, but also on other sites. He contributed his IT expertise as webmaster of his local section of the German Alpine Club, where he also engaged in leading trips for fellow members. Besides his climbing and mountaineering activities he was a musician, a composer of contemporary music. Stefan will be greatly missed by us all.

This page will be kept in honor of kletterwebbi, one of SP's most talented, knowledgeable members, and without a doubt, one of our greatest fellow mountaineers.

Overview

Grohmannspitze is on the left.

One other of the great mountains of the Langkofel group is the Grohmannspitze, the second highest peak of that group. As all mountains except the Plattkofel this is a real "alpine" summit with wild flanks, gullys, ridges, pinnacles and steep faces. The mountain is named after the famous Paul Grohmann, one of the early pioneers of the dolomites. During the Mussolini-regime in the 1930's the name was changed to "Sasso Levante", but todays the old name "Grohmannspitze / Punta Grohmann" is used again.

The Grohmannspitze has two major neighbours: north the Fünffingerspitze is diveded by the Fünffingerscharte. West of the mountain the other big peaks Innerkoflerturm and Zahnkofel are located. Between the Grohmannspitze and the Innerkoflerturm there is the Grohmannscharte.

During the time of the first ascent there was a glacier at the north side of the mountain ("Grohmanngletscher"), and many of the culoirs where filled with ice and snow. But most of this ice and snow is melted today as a result of the higher temperatures of the last years. Below the snow a lot of rubble is now filling those areas and some of the old ascents are not very recommended because of that conditions.

Beside of those uncommon routes the Grohmannspitze offers some very good routes, all of them are somewhat demanding because
of their length and some difficulties to find the right way up. Even the easiest route ("E/NE-ridge", todays used as the regular route) needs at least the UIAA grade 4- and about 4-6 hours from the Sellajoch and is big thing for a regular route !

Getting There

As for all mountains of the Langkofelgroup the Sellajoch is the best trailhead for the Grohmannspitze. From there most of the routes of the Grohmannspitze can be reached as day-trips.

Approach for the regular route is done via the Fünffingerscharte. From the Sellajoch follow the trail numer 525 to the Langkofelscharte (or take the chair-lift). From the Langkofelscharte follow a trail below the S-face of the Fünffingerspitze to the culoir heading up to the Fünffingerscharte. Hike up this culoir (rubble, sometimes, snow, exhausting). It may take about 2 hours from the Sellajoch (even with the chair-lift).

Approach to the S and E face routes is from the Forcella Rodela via a grassy ridge leading to the base of this faces. From the Sellajoch take the trail numbered 4-557 "Friedrich August Weg" until one is reaching the Forcella Rodela (10 minutes from the Sellajoch). There a climbers path bends right and up to the base of the mountain. It may take about one hour from Forcella Rodela. The Forcella Rodela is also reachable from Campitello at the Val di Fasso using the cable car to Col Rodela.

The Sella-Joch is located between the two valleys Val di Fassa and Val Gardena. So one have to travel to Canazei (Val di Fassa) or St. Ulrich (Val Gardena). Both towns can be reached by car (and also by public transportation) from Bozen, Trentino or Cortina d'Ampezzo. See the provided links for a closer description.

Red Tape

No red tape. Fee for the chair-lift to the Langkofelscharte or for the cable car to the Col Rodela (can be avoided if you hike up...).

When To Climb

Summer and fall, though be prepared for snow on the Normal Route if you came up a sunny south face in late fall.

Camping

There are different campsites at Canazei, Campitello, St. Ulrich (Ortisei) and at the Fassa-valley. From Cortina d'Ampezzo (3 campsites) it is a long way to go to the Grohmannspitze.

Mountain Conditions

Good place with lot of informations are this Homepage of the Fassa-valley.

And there is another Homepage with lots of informations to the Fassa-valley.

The weather forecast for the region can be seen here: Weatherforcast Trentino.

Routes

There are several good routes at the Grohmannspitze. Most popular is the "Dimai/Eötvös" at the S-face. At this route
and also at the regular route at the E/NE-ridge there are some stances boltes (but not all stances !). Most other routes are NOT bolted, so the usual kind of protection for the dolomites have to be used: pitons, rocks, friends, slings.

On the Menschenfälle

"E/NE-ridge": 4-, 4-6 hours from the Sellajoch, demanding, wild scenery, steep cracks and chimneys, no "easy fun climb". First ascent by J. and E. Enzensperger and Luise von Chelminski in 1895.
"Lorenz-route": 3, 5-6 hours, this route is at the N-flank and is only recommended for persons like to have a big classic epic. First ascent by H. Lorenz, L. Norman-Neruda, O. Schuster and E. Wagner in 1895.
"Dibona": 4, 6 hours, a good, exposed route at the S-face but seldom done. First ascent by A. Dibona, L. Rizzi, G. and M. Mayer in 1911.
"Harrer": 5, 8 hours, this direct route at the S-face was first done by famous Heinrich Harrer (one of the first climbers of the Eiger N-face). The route offers some very good climbing but is demanding because of protection and problems to find the correct way up.
"Dimai", 4, 4-5 hours, an other route at the S-face. This is the most popular route of the Grohmannspitze. There are some spectacular moves and the route is very exposed for a route of this grade. As at the Harrer-route there are some difficulties to find the right way up. Over all a very recommended but demanding climb. First ascent by A. Dimai, J. Summermatter with R. and I. von Eötvös in 1908.
"Johanneskamin, Preußkamin": flippers and snorkel required; very uncommon and very wet routes.
"Glück", 7-, 8 hours, a hard, demanding route at the E-face. Especially the crux is very hard. No bolts, very bad pitons, bring a full rack. First ascent by F. Glück with B., G. and M Rezzara in 1934.
"Rabanser", 6, 10 hours, an other, new route at the E-face, hard, long, sustained, seldome done. First ascent by I. Rabanser with S. Comploi in 1992 and 1994.

Guidebook & Map

Anette Köhler, Norber Memmel; Dolomiten, Genussklettereien III-VI, Rother Selection, Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, München, ISBN 3-7633-3001-1
Richard Goedeke, Sella & Langkofel extrem, Bergverlag Rudolf Rother, München, ISBN 3-7633-1315-X

Map: Tabacco, Map 05 "Val Gardena & Alpe di Siusi"

First ascent

The first ascent of the Grohmannspitze was made by Michel Innerkofler (solo !!!) using a route at the W-face in 1880.

External Links

Weatherforecast trentino
Val di Fassa
A page of the Val die Fassa with lots of informations.
Fassaweb.net
Fassa valley informations

Images



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