The audacious first ascent of the North Face of Cima Grande di Lavaredo in 1933 has been described as the worlds first ‘big wall’ and was such a masterpiece of rock climbing that nearly 100 years later it is still a highly prized objective and one of the classic 6 north faces of the Alps.  Hats off to Emilio Comici and the Dimai brothers, Angelo and Giuseppe!

The Tre Cime di Laverado North Faces, Piccola, Grande and Ovest. The Comici route takes the striking steep yellow, great and black wall on the far right of the central tower, Cima Grande.

‘The Comici’ remains a stiff test of mountain rock climbing too, with over 500m and 19 pitches up to around 6b+ but this can feel a bit harder with the north wall ambiance, wild exposure and, for the 2nd, carrying a pack!

Approaching the Tre Cime di Lavaredo from a dawn start at Rifugio Auronzo

A pre-dawn start saw our head torches bobbling round the ‘101’ approach path  along with many others.  Fortunately they were not all heading for the Comici!  A chilly mid September morning felt like it might be a quiet day on the north facing Cima Grande but, as we rounded the Forcella Lavaredo with it’s remarkable view of these 3 north faces, we could see 3 head torches bobbling around on the crux first pitch (see main photo above).

John soloing the first easy pitch on the Comici with the steepness of this north wall looming above

After the rapid approach under these remarkable north faces (and noting the base of the Brandler Hasse for a return visit!) we quickly joined this South Korean team and could see why they were not exactly flying up the start of the route.  From a cold start on chilly rock the initial steep traverse provides more than an optimal warm up and only leads in to an even harder move at the end of the traverse.  Fortunately it’s all well protected by in-situ pegs.  As is much, but not all, of the route!

John setting off on the first hard pitch (6b+) and crux of the Comici with the Forcella Lavaredo beyond.

Now fully established on this remarkably steep wall the climbing remains sustained but fortunately less fierce…

The upper wall of the sustained 4th pitch, 6a+

The quality is also sustained with more fine steep corner crack climbing on the 5th pitch, given 5c in some topos and 6b in others!  We used a collection of topos from Rockfax, Camp2Camp and Arnaud Petit book ‘Parois de Legende’.  This book is highly recommended although his pitch grades for the Comici topo can be a little stiff!

Fine wall and steep corner crack climbing on the 5th pitch

After a very fun 5c yellow corner crack 6th pitch the difficulties kick in again with steep technical climbing and enough fixed gear that a stiff resolution is required not to pull on it!   There are plenty of pegs but still some obligatory moves and sustained sections of high quality modern style limestone face climbing.

Starting the sustained 2nd crux area of the wall on the 7th pitch.

The 9th pitch above marks the transition between the very steep lower section of the north face (with hard technical climbing with many pegs) and the more relenting upper wall with easier and more trad style climbing.

Engaging and well protected traverse on fine compact rock after a steep and sustained corner crack on pitch 8 with the promise of easier climbing above!

For our rack, we had 16 quick draws (which are handy for the harder pitches which are not very long but do have lots of pegs!) a single set of cams from small blue to larger yellow #2 and a light full set of nuts which all felt about right.

John enjoying the quality climbing in a stunning position on the upper crux pitch of the Comici

A jug above the mini roof and the passage from the lower to upper north face.

A series of easy but loose terraces and either a trad chimney groove or slightly friable 5b wall with spaces gear lead to the upper chimneys.  We took the line of least resistance and these easier right hand line of chimneys were also bone dry and fun to climb with lots of quick cam placements.

The upper chimneys give good traditional style climbing and are much easier than the lower walls.

Fine views from Cima Grande – including across to several teams climbing on the neighbouring North Face of Cima Ovest

As the ‘ringband’ ledge approaches there is a final shrewd bit of route finding, masterminded by Comici himself.  The traverse left near the top re-ignites the wild exposure and is thankfully fun, easy and well protected albeit with some stiff steep moves to get going.

Remarkable positions high on the face and an exposed traverse to savour it all before the ringband is reached.

Traversing the ringband round on to the south face leads in to the sun, easier ground and the option to either go up to the summit or start the descent back to Rifugio Auronzo directly.   As it was our first visit up here and despite some initial reluctance on the part of the editor, we opted to visit the summit and enjoy a celebratory energy bar with expansive views around the inspiring Dolomites.

Change in ambiance as the sunny ‘voie normale’ route up the Cima Grande is reached via the ringband traverse. With the option to go to the summit, or not!

The Cima Grande by it’s easiest route is a classic Dolomites ascent itself and involves some scrambling, easy climbing, loose rock to be managed and multiple abseils with good modern anchors along the way.  We left the normal route to join the 2019 abseils which gave us an efficient descent with 4 abseils using a 60m rope down in to the impressive rocky couloir between Cime Grand and Cima Ovest.

Working your way down the south face of Cima Grande back towards Rifugio Auronzo

With the continuing path leading down to the 101 and trail back to celebratory Lemon Soda, café and cake at Rifugio Auronzo.  It would be interesting to know how Comici and the Dimai brothers celebrated after their ascent!

If you would like a guided ascent of the Comici route on Cima Grande, then please get in touch.  We also offer north face training courses in Chamonix, Snowdonia and the Scottish Highlands with rock climbing orientated guiding and training in order to be able to enjoy climbing routes like the Comici and Cassin on Piz Badile.

John enjoying the ‘2 dinners’ style evening meal at Rifugio Auronzo with stunning Dolomit views from the dining room.