Our hike to Piz Boe was one of our best hiking days of the trip. Last year we had planned to cross the Sella massif, but had to change our plans due to the snow and we were also shut out a few days earlier on this trip by the weather. We really wanted to hike these trails and thankfully, third time was a charm. It was a longer bus ride from Ortisei (about 1.5 hours on some crazy switchbacked mountain roads) and as our ride went on, we noticed snow on Sassolungo and then noticed a lot of snow on the Sella. While it had been raining in the valley the day before, we did not even think about snow at higher elevations. I suppose it wouldn’t be a trip to the Dolomites if we weren’t slogging through snow at some point.

Our initial plan was to take the bus to Passo Pordoi, hike up to Piz Boe, and eventually down to Passo Gardena. Steve ran up to the forcella from Passo Pordoi and Norah and I took the lift. Just like the rest of our days, the skies clouded up by the time we arrived at the cable car station. The views were still fantastic though. We met up with Steve and took a look at the trail to Piz Boe. I have to admit it looked a little intimidating with all the snow, but off we went. Hiking through the snow was annoying, but it made the scenery simply stunning. I did not have the luxury of admiring the scenery too much as we neared Piz Boe. It was steep and rocky with some via ferrata sections - all made a little trickier with the snow/slush/ice. But we made it. Piz Boe was amazing! 360 degree views - we could see everything and it was gorgeous. We had a drink outside on the deck and admired the views before descending the other side down to Rifugio Boe. Still snowy, but better than the side we ascended (one easy section with cables and steps, but otherwise straightforward).

We had a snack at Rifugio Boe and basked in the sun. We were looking at the trail to Passo Gardena and there was quite a bit of snow with a bit more ascent and we didn't know how snowy/icy the trails were that way. We thought we might just descend to Colfosco instead, but when we walked over to the trail we saw the trail wasn't broken and the trail was down a steep gully full of snow. Plan C. We decided the prudent thing to do was go back to Pordoi via the easy, lower trail below Piz Boe. It was a nice hike back with more beautiful views. We went up to the cable car station to take some pictures, then Steve ran back down to Passo Pordoi and Norah and I took the cable car back down. We caught the bus back to Ortisei, spent some time at the pool, then went to Ristorante Cascade by our hotel for dinner. It was an awesome day!

Book times for the hike (excluding Steve’s running):

Sass Pordoi (2950m) to Forcella Pordoi (2829m): 20 minutes, 121m/397 ft descent
Forcella Pordoi (2829m) to Piz Boe (3152m) on trail n.638: 1 hr, 15 minutes; 323m/1060 ft ascent
Piz Boe to Rifugio Boe (2873m): 30 minutes, 279m/915 ft descent
Rifugio Boe to Forcella Pordoi (via n.627 below Piz Boe): 45 minutes, 44m/144 ft descent
Forcella Pordoi to Sass Pordoi (2950m): 20 minutes, 121m/397 ft ascent

Total: 3 hrs, 10 minutes; 444m/1457 ft ascent/descent