Dolomites: Tre Cime rescues and two fatal falls

The first half of September stacked several separate stories in the Dolomites: a cluster of rescues on Tre Cime di Lavaredo and two fatal falls — on a via ferrata near Sexten and at night beside a hut.

Early in the month two Polish climbers spent a night on the wall of Cima Grande after a fall of about 25 metres towards the Dibona arete. Wind kept the helicopter away that evening; both were winched off a ledge on the morning of 4 September. On Saturday 5 September four more people called for help while descending the same peak. Two Austrians who had left the line at about 2,700 metres were winched to Rifugio Lavaredo. Two Italians were still on the 2,986-metre summit, late and under-dressed for the cold; a second helicopter flew them to Rifugio Auronzo around 23:15. Across the weekend six people around the massif needed rescue.

On 8 September a 43-year-old visitor from Germany died on the Via ferrata Mario Zandonella on the Croda Rossa di Sesto / Sextner Rotwand, on the Belluno–South Tyrol border. He was alone and wearing via-ferrata kit. Nobody saw the fall; others nearby heard shouts around midday. A helicopter from Pieve di Cadore found him in a gully some 80 metres below; a doctor could only confirm death. The cause is still unclear; the route also has unprotected sections.

In the night of 13–14 September a 43-year-old visitor from Czechia left Rifugio Coldai in the Civetta group around midnight to photograph the sky and did not return. His phone rang unanswered. Rescuers from Val di Zoldo found his body about 100 metres below the hut. First reconstruction: he lost his balance on open ground by the terrace and fell into a couloir.

Shorter September days, summit cold and darkness around huts are not minor details here. Ferrata gear does not cancel unprotected pitches, and night shots from the edge of a terrace are a separate risk, not an extension of the daytime walk.