Cima Bocche - Cimon de Boce
Peak · 2745 m · Dolomites
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The rock is porphyry, not dolomite, so Cima Bocche belongs to the Dolomites by geography rather than by geology. At 2,745 m it is the high point of the small group standing between the San Pellegrino Pass and the Predazzo valley.
Cima Bocche anchored the Austro-Hungarian army's first defensive line when Italy entered the war in 1915, its steep north face a natural wall and its gentler south slopes the one route an attacker could try. Italy's Tevere Brigade tried that route in July and August 1915, cutting gaps through the wire with a mortar hauled up to altitude, and was thrown back with heavy losses. Fighting resumed after a brutal winter of avalanche deaths, and on 3 November 1916 Italian troops took the position known as the Osservatorio at 2,636 m, holding it for five days before an Austro-Hungarian counterattack retook it. The line held there until the Italian army withdrew toward the Piave in November 1917. Supplying a single soldier at this altitude took roughly eight men in the rear, moving stores over the passes by packhorse, cable car and their own backs.
What you see
A sheer 400 m wall of rock drops from the summit on the north side, while the southern slopes fall away far more gently, making that side an easy climb to the top.
Practical
The Gronton path takes about three and a half hours end to end and needs via ferrata gear: harness, lanyard and helmet. On foot, the peak is reached from Moena or Passo San Pellegrino to the north, or Predazzo, Bellamonte and Passo Valles to the south.
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