Traumpfeiler, the pillar of dreams above Val Gardena with Stefan Stuflesser and Filip Schenk

Traumpfeiler, the pillar of dreams. The name couldn’t be more appropriate for this famous climb that, given its beauty, also lent its name to the magnificent limestone missile located beneath the Sella Pass in the Italian Dolomites. Bolted from above in 1984 by Gardena alpinists Stefan Stuflesser and Carlo Großrubatscher on Meisules dla Biesces, this outing is recognised as being one of the first multi-pitch sports climbs in the Dolomites.

"You have to bear in mind that, until 1983, bolts had practically never been used before in the modern sense," wrote local expert Manfred Stuffer back in 1989 "For mountaineering in Val Gardena - and not only in this valley - this new way of climbing routes represented a new vision for alpinism and a widening of horizons. Since then, bolts have always been the focus of debates and controversy in the Dolomites, even nowadays."

Over the years new multi-pitches were added alongside other single pitch climbs, giving rise to an entire "sector" referred to as Cansla, but Traumpfeiler remains one of crown jewels. In the meantime the route has been rebooted, and even today you can see signs of the past, such as some 8mm bolts Stuflesser drilled by hand. In this video he repeats his route together with Filip Schenk, the 16-year-old from Santa Cristina in Val Gardena who was crowned Youth Bouldering World Champion of his category in Arco last year.

Traumpfeiler
6a+, 6c+, 6b, 7a




TOPO: Cansla, Dolomites