1984 Civetta Descent

I found this random video of a 1984 ski descent by Toni Velaruz (at the time, a 43 year old ski instructor at Val di Fassa) of the North East Wall of Civetta, a huge peak in the Italian Dolomites. The line is over 1000m long and averages 60 degrees. Though he had heli-assistance, the […]

Cortina’s Classic Couloirs

Here’s a little Euro weekend stoke for you. It’s a compilation of descents in a number of the Dolomite’s classic couloirs by Felix Hentz.  My favorite imagery in this video is at the end…now that is a rappel off a bridge if I’ve ever seen one.

Video: North Face of the Breithorn Ski Descent

The north side of the Breithorn in the Pennine Alps. The Breithorn is a huge Swiss peak with no less than five summits to it’s name, and sits on the border between Switzerland and Italy…not too far from the Matterhorn.  At 40164m (13.661ft), the Breithorn is a pretty big peak by European standards, but it’s […]

Bus de Tofana (Hole in the Tofana)

Number 6 is the Bus de Tofana After skiing the Piz Boe Direttissima, we decided to try and nail the ‘Hole in the Tofana” on the Tofana di Mezzo on the drive back to Cortina. You can access this route via the chairlifts of the resort with a short hike, but that would be too […]

Piz Boe Direttissima-Val de la Fontane

The Sella group in the Dolomites has got to be one of the raddest spots to ski couloirs in the world. There are many lines that are accessible within and hour or two long tour from the Passo Pordoi tram and range from casual 40 degree lines to the ultimate in mandatory rappel 60 degree […]

Canal Staunies Nord: Dolomites, Italy

Number 17 is the Staunies Nord on Mount Cristallo While in Italy for the World Skimo Championships in 2006, I was able to spend some time in the Dolomites skiing my favorite type of terrain…splitter couloirs. There are endless options for the steep skier and I would travel all the way back to ski one […]

Photo of the Week

Taking a day off from skiing today and it is my Friday…so I’m looking forward to some full days on the slopes. In 2006 I took a trip to Italy to compete in the World Ski Mountaineering Championships and do dome skiing in the Dolomites. Here is a picture of Dr. Cary Smith skiing below […]

Joel Canale-Dolomites, Italy

This trip report is from March 9, 2006. The Joel Canale was the first coulior I choose to ski based mainly on it’s easy access from the Passo Pardi tram. The coulior directly faces you from the dock, so you can totally see what you are getting into. We Americans stick out like sore thumbs […]