Piz Boè
Peak · 3152 m · Dolomites
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Piz Boè is the highest point of the Sella massif, the group's only peak above 3000 metres. Paul Grohmann made the first ascent in 1864, and a cable car from Passo Pordoi now puts the summit within about 90 minutes' walk, making it the most accessible 3000-metre summit in the Dolomites. Rifugio Capanna Piz Fassa has stood on top since the 1960s, one of Italy's highest mountain huts.
Paul Grohmann reached the summit on 30 July 1864 with the local guide G. Irschara, though local hunters are thought to have stood there before him. One of the routes up today, the Via Ferrata Cesare Piazzetta, starts near the Pordoi ossuary, a war memorial holding the remains of more than 9,000 Austro-Hungarian and German soldiers killed in the First World War. The hut on top is a much newer story: Francesco Dezulian saw the opening once the Sass Pordoi cable car started running at Easter 1963, and Luigi Bernard spent the summer of 1968 building it by hand, hauling materials up the mountain with the help of his young son Guido. Guido Bernard runs Capanna Piz Fassa today, close to sixty years after his father broke ground.
What you see
On a clear day the summit panorama reaches Marmolada, Sassolungo, the Tofane, Civetta, Pelmo, Antelao and the Rosengarten, most of the great Dolomite groups visible at once.
Practical
Rifugio Capanna Piz Fassa is open from 15 June to 1 October, with 31 beds.
dolomites viewpointvia ferratafamily run rifugiofirst ascent