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June 2004 click on these 'thumbnails' to get a larger downloadable copies |
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(photos John Lowe) |
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Dolomites June 2004 |
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| (photos Dave Patten) | Note the height, 7687ft |
One slip and that's the end of the walk programme |
| While Taunton Ramblers were plodding up Dunkery, again, John Ollerenshaw and Dave Patten returned to the Dolomites on June 15th for a ten day experience. Based in the Cortina area they were greeted by the heaviest winter snowfalls for 20 years. As Dave says "You can normally walk the Dolomites almost without a map as the paths are well marked by paint splashes. This time the main problem was route-finding as we encountered 10ft snow drifts. In many cases we were either the first or amongst the first to reach the cols, and we never knew quite what was on the other side." As John had the biggest feet, and two trekking poles (Dave: "I knew they'd come in handy sometime: I graciously allowed him to take the lead"), most walks turned out to be an epic of one sort or another. Probably the highlight was climbing up a 500ft snow slope to a refugi (mountain hut) where an alpine guide gave out free grappe. Living up to his reputation for scorning the easy route when a "short cut" beckoned, John decided to pioneer a rock face to the col. "Fly" and "wall" come to mind as he clung on, watched with some apprehension or amusement by the distant guide. The Cortina area is strictly Italian, unlike the pair's trip last year to the German speaking side at Val Gardena. Fortunately John's six week crash course in Italian ("thank you SCAT") got the pair well fed. Because of the late snow the hotels were surprisingly quiet, but watching Beckham miss penalties in the evening helped to remind them of home. | ||
