The Sella Group

The best-known peaks

• Piz Boè3,152 m
• Sasso Pordoi2,950 m
• Piz Pisciadù2,985 m
• Piz Ciavazes2,828 m
• Piz Sëlva2,940 m

Elevations from the map (OpenStreetMap).

How it is built: a plateau ringed by walls

Above the walls lies a plateau of pale rock, where trails link the Boè and Pisciadù huts and where the summit of Piz Boè stands. Towards Passo Sella the group breaks up into towers, the Sella Towers, which in Val di Fassa's words dominate the pass. Towards Passo Pordoi rises Sass Pordoi, with the terrace where the cable car arrives.

The shape has a long history. The Dolomites UNESCO Foundation writes that the Sella and the Sassolungo were islands in the Triassic sea, and that the Gardena and Sella passes, between one group and the other, were arms of the sea.

Where to start and where to park

The quickest way into the group is the Sass Pordoi cable car, which rises from Passo Pordoi to 2,950 metres. From Corvara you go up with the Boè gondola and the Vallon chairlift. The Passo Gardena road, on the Colfosco side, is the base for the Tridentina via ferrata and for Val Setus. Passo Sella is the base for the Towers and for the Sassolungo circuit, right opposite.

At Passo Sella the car park at the top has 199 spaces in summer and 42 in winter. It costs 4 euros an hour for the first three hours and 2 from the fourth, up to 20 euros a day. In summer it often fills up in the morning: how often is shown in the box below, and the alternatives are in our guide on where to park at Passo Sella.

What to do: the summit, the via ferratas, the traverse

Piz Boè is a summit for experienced hikers. From the cable car station the normal route involves no climbing, but it has exposed stretches. On the summit stands the Capanna Piz Fassa, where according to Alta Badia you can also stay the night. From Corvara, Alta Badia suggests a longer and more demanding ascent via the Cresta Strënta, returning past Rifugio Pisciadù and through Val de Mesdì.

The best-known via ferrata is the Tridentina, which climbs to Rifugio Pisciadù and has a suspension bridge. The South Tyrol tourist board also describes the traverse of the group: from Sass Pordoi to Piz Boè, then to the Boè and Pisciadù huts and down towards Passo Gardena, with protected stretches on the descent. It calls for sure feet and a head for heights.

In winter the Sella is the heart of the Sella Ronda: route, timing and direction are in our guide to the Sella Ronda on skis. If you drive the passes, read which way round works better.

History, names and UNESCO World Heritage

According to the Val Gardena tourist office, the first person to climb Piz Boè, in 1864, was the Viennese Paul Grohmann, the same man who five years later made the first ascent of the Sassolungo. Rifugio Boè, on the plateau, also carries the German name Bamberger Hütte in the Alta Badia route description.

In German the group is called Sellagruppe or Sellastock, and the pass Sellajoch; in Ladin the pass is Jëuf de Sela. The Sella is not one of the nine systems of the Dolomites UNESCO site: the nearest are Puez-Odle, north of Passo Gardena, and the Marmolada, south of Passo Pordoi.

Nearby

Places that fall inside the group’s frame but are closer to another group.

• Giro del Sassolungo
• Altopiano del Pralongià
• Sentiero del Viel del Pan
• Sassolungo Circuit from Passo Sella: the giant's loop
• Viel del Pan Trail: the balcony overlooking the Marmolada
• E-bike Tour on the Pralongià Plateau in Alta Badia
• Via Ferrata delle Trincee: history and rock on the Padon Ridge