|
150 ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST ASCENT OF MONTE PELMO BY JOHN
BALL
14 - 17 SEPT 07
Stephen with the Friuli team on the summit of Monte Pelmo.
Just back from a fantastic weekend in the Dolomites. The
occasion was the 150th anniversary of the first ascent of Monte
Pelmo by an Irishman called John Ball, who went on to found the
Alpine Club and become its first president.
Married to a local girl from Bassano, the Irish lawyer, MP,
botanist and mountaineer was fascinated by the Eastern Alps. On
19 September 1957, he hired a cacciatore – a hunter – from the
Val de Cadore, to show him the way along a secret ledge leading
to the upper bowl of the limestone peak. The hunter couldn’t see
the point of climbing mountains, so Ball continued alone to the
summit of the first major peak to be climbed in the Dolomites.
Ball's Ledge traverses for several hundred metres through
huge cliffs.
It was all a bit different last Saturday, with about two hundred
people congregating on Monte Pelmo, with huge traffic jams on
‘Ball’s Ledge’ – a spectacular walkway following a fault line
through huge cliffs.
Sarah from Friuli on Ball's Ledge. The fixed ropes are not
normally there: the guides installed
them specially for the anniversary crowds and removed them on the Saturday
evening.
Beyond the ledge, scree slopes lead to what
was a glacier and is now a bare rocky amphitheatre. Then you
break onto a final rather spectacular ridge, with stupendous
views straight down the 3,000 ft high North Face. Stunning
summit, with lovely views over the whole of the Dolomites.
Summit traffic jam, with the Civetta behind, on the far side
of the Val di Zoldo.
Then back down to the Rifugio de Venezia, for beer and pasta.
Then back down to San Vito di Cadore, where I had to give a
speech at the evening ceremony. Rosie arrived late that night
and on the Sunday we were shown round Pieve di Cadore – the
birthplace of Titian – and the city of Belluno, where the great
Bill Tilman is still revered as a hero of the Second World War
resistance.
On Monday I returned to Venice for the first time in thirty-five
years. It was Rosie’s first visit and she loved it. We will have
to go back. I was hoping to stay on for some more rock climbing,
but got jittery about my bad knee, which I damaged last week at
Victoria Station, doing an unintentional telemark turn whilst
slipping on a wet floor. Now I am nursing the knee, hoping that
it will sort itself out in time for Scotland next week. A big
thank you to the President of Belluno and the local branch of
the Club Alpino Italiano, who made our trip possible and who
entertained us royally, with much feasting.
|
