Saslonch - Langkofel - Sassolungo
Peak · 3181 m · Dolomites
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Sassolungo, Langkofel in German and Saslonch in Ladin, rises to 3,181 m as the landmark of Val Gardena, formed some 230 million years ago from a tropical coral reef. Paul Grohmann made the first ascent in 1869, and the normal route remains one of the hardest standard climbs on any Dolomite three-thousander. A carved wooden Madonna, about 3 m tall, sits in a niche on the mountain's east side.
The peak has a topographic prominence of 1,124 metres and stands nearly 12 kilometres from its nearest higher neighbour. Grohmann climbed with the Sexten guide Franz Innerkofler and the Carinthian guide Peter Salcher, and went on to complete more first ascents in the Eastern Alps than any climber of his generation, including all four of the highest Dolomite summits. Harder routes followed for a century after: Angelo Dibona forced a new line up the northwest face in 1911, a north ridge route opened in 1918, a northwest pillar in 1966, and in January 2013 Adam Holzknecht and Hubert Moroder made the first ascent of an ice and mixed climb called La Legrima. The Madonna set into the east-face niche was carved by the sculptor Flavio Pancheri and placed there in the 1950s by the Alpine School and Mountain Guides of Val Gardena.
What you see
The mountain rises as a near-vertical wall over 1,000 metres tall, its long, saw-toothed ridge looking different from each of Val Gardena's three villages: Ortisei, Santa Cristina and Selva.
Practical
The normal route, graded III, climbs about 650 metres from Sassolungo Pass and takes 6 to 9 hours round trip, 4 to 5 of them on rock.
climbing historyvia ferratamountaineering