Routes in First Sella Tower

Gear:

Black Diamond Friends 2 & 3

Hannes Schnitzer, Sepp Auer, Walter Obergolser, Pföstl Peter,

The first pitch is shared with the historical Schober-Rossi route and is unbolted. There is a belay where the Schober route branches to the left. Otherwise all pitches are fully bolted except for some of the easier sections (like before the end of pitch 3).

After passing the Lokomotiv, go along the southwest wall of the First Tower until you reach a recess, with pillars on the right and left. The route runs along the evident dihedral slightly inclined to the right.

1. Scramble up slightly loose rock to the base of the prominent Trenker Crack. Anchor on pitons, to the left of the crack immediately after the small vertical section. (30m, III)

2. Climb the slightly right-trending crack. Before the crack becomes vertical, traverse 2-3 to the right to a small ledge with the anchor (1 big glue-in bolt). (35 m, IV-)

3. Climb over the easy overhang above the belay, then slightly left to the dihedral. Follow the dihedral, past a steeper polished section protected by a bolt, until you reach a good belay on a ledge. (1 bent glue-in bolt + 2 pitons). (35m, V+)

4. Follow the dihedral up, to the right of the small column, following the slightly polished crack. Continue until the next belay (1 glue-in bolt). (35m, III+) 1 piton.

5. 2 options for this pitch:

a) Head up a couple of metres before leaving the crack and traversing diagonally right up an easy slab to a large ledge. Anchor on two glue-in bolts in the middle of the ledge.

b) Continue up the crack to the top before stepping out right on the ledge, belay on two pitons, OR belay on the right of this directly under the chimney of the final pitch (2 glue-in bolts). (25m, IV-)

1. Traverse another 2-3 meters to the right on the ledge, then follow the yellowish rocks up the chimney to the top. From here, via easy rocks, exit onto the wide ridge that leads to the top of the tower and the anchor (1 glue-in bolt). (30m, IV-) 2 pitons

2. Optional to reach summit: Follow the path to the left to reach the summit of the 1st Sella Tower. (40m, I)

Descent:

a) Abseil from summit: To the right of the saddle between 1st/2nd towers, follow the ridge ~30m to an abseil (40m).

OR

b) Descent by the "Via Normale" From the summit, follow the obvious path that leads to the saddle between the First and Second Sella Towers, then continue around the 2nd Tower, following the rock piles/cairns.

At a crossroads, take the path that turns right down the steep gully towards the valley. There are points where downhill climbing is required, never higher than II.

Here, the abseil and the Via Normale join up again. Shortly before the base of the wall, the trail separates to the left and right. To the right, there are two abseil anchors (top 35m, bottom 25m). To the left there is a downclimb (grade II).

Once at the base, follow the path to the right to return to the parking lot.

Primo tiro in comune con via dei Pilastrini ultimo in comune con via dei Camini

Primo tiro in comune con via Fiechtl ultimi due in comune con via dei Camini

Bastano 5 rinvii

https://www.bergsteigen.com/touren/klettern/freccia-bis-erster-sellaturm/

At the base of the SE face, looking at the grey pillars/buttresses, scramble up the rocks (I-II) aiming for the three cracks/chimneys that cut the wall at the start of vertical rock. The route starts on a small terrace at the base of these cracks, following the right-most chimney in the corner. There is 1 cemented piton and 1 normal piton.

As with all classic Dolomites routes, there are lots of variations to the pitch lengths/directions:

1. Go up the short chimney, left at the top, then up a short distance to the anchor (1 glue-in piton with ring). (35m, IV/III, 2 pitons)

2. Go up through the chimney/crack above the belay, then up the next wall, either deviating left or going straight up the corner crack, until you reach a grassy ledge. Continue past the bolt & ring. Continue up some more grassy steps until the base of the chimney and the anchor (1 bolt). (20m, III+, IV-, III +)

3. Climb the chimney to the left of the anchor, continue all the way to the top (V-). Easier (IV-): follow the crack to the right, directly above the belay (not the chimney in the corner). At its end, go 1-2m more, up the little free-standing column and the chimney until you reach an obvious ledge between the two chimneys on the main wall. Traverse left along the ledge to the left chimney, to the left of the anchor below. Follow the easy chimney to the top with the anchor (1 glue-in bolt + ring). (15m, IV-, 2 pitons).

4. Easy scrambling leads you to the top of the pillar with one bolt. A thrilling 1-metre jump of faith takes you across the sucking void to the anchor (Glue-in bolt with ring). (20m, II, 1 bolt, 1 piton)

5. Go straight up from the belay for about 3 meters, then continue upwards over easy scrambling. One more small vertical sections leads you to the top of the climb, where you belay (1 glue-in piton) off a large boulder with some rubble, sligthly to the left. (30m, III +, II)

To reach the summit, walk up to the right around the boulder and scramble to the summit rocks.

http://quartogrado.com/volume1_2/relazioni/SELLA_foto/PRIMA%20TORRE_camini_sito.jpg