The number and variety of climbing routes on display in the Dolomites is probably unrivalled in the world, thanks to their 16000 km extension and the around 50 different mountain ranges that make them up. Besides many classics, we can also find routes opened with a different spirit
A modern route is generally considered to be a route opened in the last few decades whose main features are: bolted protection (or a mixture of pegs and bolts) and a climbing style mostly on slabs or open sections of wall which, rather than looking for the line progressing through the weakest point in the rock face, prefers good rock and the most enjoyable and exciting moves. This is also the reason we generally use the French sport-climbing scale to measure these routes’ grades.
Beware not to underestimate this routes, as the Dolomites always keep at the forefront this idea of climbing ‘commitment’: protections are quite spaced apart and sometimes it’s necessary to use quick, self-positioned protection like cams or nuts.
It goes without saying that the examples here cannot possibly be exhaustive. Rather, they represent an overview giving a taste of what to expect in the pursuit of these modern climbing routes.
