Val Garés, a Dolomites sport climbing gem

Valle di Garés is a small valley that leads off from the village Canale d'Agordo, on route between Cencenighe and Falcade and therefore in the heart of the Agordo Dolomites. At its end this beautiful valley opens up into a wonderful amphitheater, a perfect horseshoe-shaped glacial cirque where the road ends next to Rifugio Capanna Cima Comelle. A path leads gently from here to the famous waterfall Cascata delle Comelle.

It is on these high limestone walls that climbing was developed as early as the 1950s and 1960s. Although the first bolted routes appeared in the 80s thanks to Marcello Luciani and friends, the area was developed in early 2000 and then, after another break, in 2015 thanks to the group “Appigli sotto il muschio” that bolted new sectors and carried out path maintenance.

The climbing takes place in four distinct sectors, namely the ""Massi a fondo valle”, the boulders at the bottom of the valley located close to the mountain hut, the sector "Placca dei Fiori" to the left of the waterfall, the sector "Abisso De Dea" to the right of the waterfall and, further up, the sector "Falesia Alta". This sector is the real jewel in the valley’s crown and is described here, with compact slabs up to 80 meters in height. The climbing is extremely technical in one of the most beautiful valleys in the Dolomites.

TOPO: the crag Val Garés, Dolomites