The ascent of Piz Lavarella in Val Badia, South Tyrol, offers a truly rewarding trekking experience. You traverse unique and fascinating landscapes, and from the summit, you enjoy a 360-degree view of the most important peaks in the Dolomites.
Trekking: Piz Lavarella, Badia Valley (Gadertal), South Tyrol (Dolomites)
I have stayed in San Cassiano, in Val Badia—beneath the sheer faces of Piz Lavarella—several times during summer holidays. It was only this past summer, however, that I finally had the chance to summit this peak, which offers panoramic views and reaches an altitude of 3,055 meters.
There are two options for reaching the summit. You can start from Capanna Alpina, accessible by heading up from La Villa towards Passo Falzarego. In this case, the starting elevation is 1,720 meters, meaning an elevation gain of over 1,300 meters covered over a 9 km route (18 km round-trip).
Alternatively, you can start from the Santa Croce Hospice (at 2,045 meters), which is accessible via the new La Crusc gondola lift rising from Pedraces. This route involves less elevation gain and is slightly shorter, but it requires navigating sections of exposed and/or steep trail—particularly the stretch between Forcella di Medesc and the summit.
Finally, the summit can also be reached via a long hike starting from Albergo Pederù (in Val Dai Tamersc) and passing by Rifugio Lavarella (where you can spend the night to break up the trek).
I chose to start from Capanna Alpina.
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At the summit, I met some friendly locals speaking Ladin who were tackling the "4 Peaks" challenge (Sas dla Crusc, Piza dales Diesc, Lavarela, and Conturines)—a feat that earns a special recognition (read more here).
Together, we began identifying the surrounding peaks visible from the summit. There are so many of them: Pelmo, Civetta, Cristallo, Tofane, Antelao, Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Croda Rossa di Sesto, Marmolada, Sella, Sasso Lungo and Sasso Piatto, Sciliar, Odle, Sass de Putia, Vedrette di Ries, Grossglockner... it’s impossible to list them all.
I then made my way down via the same route I had come up, taking it easy and chatting for part of the descent with Adriano and Chiara, a friendly couple from Rome.
It was another mountain day truly worth experiencing to the fullest.
Enjoy your climbing. Fabio
Click here for the slideshow of the day
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