Dolomites Via Ferrata Hut Experience VF1

Accommodation

Accommodation for this tour is in traditional mountain huts, most of them run by local alpine clubs. While there’s a lot of variation from hut to hut, you can read our Staying in Mountain Huts Webpage for information about the hut experience.

The huts on this route are full of charm but lack luxury. They are very basic, and it is not possible to do this route in private rooms, which is why neither our Classic nor Comfort packages are available for this route.

Meals

Half-pension is included at the mountain huts. Half-pension includes a multi-course dinner that is a set menu (usually with a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option) and a breakfast that is based around bread. Drinks are not included (except for coffee at breakfast).

Read about dietary restrictions at the huts

For lunches, there are two options:

1. Huts offer sack lunches that you can bring with you on the trail. We find these to be overpriced, repetitive to breakfast, and this option generates a lot of trash.  Most huts do not accept reservations for sack lunches with bookings, which means that we are not able to order these in advance for you. Sack lunches should be requested immediately upon arrival at the hut for the next day. Huts are generally not very flexible in honoring dietary restrictions with their sack lunches.
2. The second option, and our favorite option, is to bring your own food. There are no towns or resupply options along this route, so it is necessary to bring everything with you.

Via ferratas can be exceptionally dangerous in late spring/early summer, when cables may remain buried under stubborn and treacherously steep snowfields. Our Dolomites Via Ferrata Hut Experience travels through high alpine terrain and across glaciers, where crevasses can remain hidden until the snow melts. For these reasons, we open this tour in the second week of July. The huts usually remain open until mid-September.

The weather in this region of the Dolomites is infamously variable, and throughout the summer, alternating periods of heavy fog and brilliant sunshine are to be expected.

Here's what conditions to expect at different times of year:

July and August: Summer settles in and the days are usually mostly sunny. Afternoon thunderstorms are possible. While it is necessary to be wise and to avoid passes and via ferratas during immediate electrical storms, these storms rarely last more than 30 minutes to an hour, and generally do not impact itineraries. The wildflowers at the higher elevations should be all out by mid-July. Hiking conditions during this time are often favorable, and it’s a great time to be on the trail.

Early September: The first snow of the winter usually falls in the first week of September. The snow rarely sticks around for more than a day, but the visibility can be very low, making navigation problematic, and maybe even impossible, on this one day. Most days in early September are beautiful and perfect, and the thunderstorms are less, but there is a higher risk of snowstorms and conditions that may prevent you from completing your hike during this time. Many climbers have incredible weather in September, but some do not. It’s simply a matter of luck. The later you push into September, the higher the risk that unfavorable conditions (usually snow, but sometimes extremely cold temperatures) can interfere with your via ferrata itinerary. We notice that customers who are on the trail beyond September 15^th are much more likely to quit their hike early due to conditions. In early September, the wildflower season is mostly over, with the exception of brilliant bursts of fireweed that mark the end of summer.

In all months, it’s reasonable to expect 1 to 2 rainy days on the trail.

To research more detailed information about average temperatures, precipitation, etc., we recommend checking Meteoblue (go to “History & Climate” and then “Climate (modelled)”) for Rifugio Tuckett.

Read more about Understanding the hut-to-hut hiking season in the Alps.