Monte Civetta

One of the great walls of the Dolomites, Monte Civetta rises above the Alleghe valley in the Italian Alps, its north-west face a vast sweep of limestone often called the wall of walls for its scale and its central place in the climbing history of the range.

This is serious big-wall terrain, with multi-pitch routes climbing hundreds of metres of Dolomite rock on faces that hold some of the most storied lines in mountaineering, including classics first climbed in the pioneering decades of the last century. Many sit in the grade 4 to 6 range but are long, sustained and committing, demanding endurance, route-finding and self-reliance; harder modern lines push well beyond. A rack, mountain sense and a fast, efficient pace are essential.

The mountain's history is immense, its walls the setting for landmark ascents through the twentieth century, and its sheer size dominates the surrounding valleys and the lake at Alleghe. Refuges perched beneath the faces provide staging points, but the routes themselves are remote, exposed and unforgiving of hesitation once the weather turns.

Summer, roughly late June to September, is the season, when the high faces are dry and the days long; storms and cold can arrive fast at altitude, so settled weather and pre-dawn starts are vital. Alleghe and mountain huts serve as bases, with the Coldai and Tissi refuges classic staging points. Civetta is a destination for experienced climbers drawn to the grandeur, seriousness and heritage of true Dolomite big walls, not a place for the tentative.