Bele vode / Rio Bianco - Visoka Bela Špica / Cima Alta di Riobianco

Access to the starting point:
a) From Kranjska Gora, take the Rateče border crossing to Trbiz / Tarvisio. In Trbiz, turn left towards Bovec and follow the road to the crossroads near Lake Rabeljsko. Here, turn right towards Nevea Pass / Sella Nevea. Follow this road, which mostly climbs, for another 2-3 km to a bridge where the road crosses the White Water stream / Rio Bianco at a left-hand bend. On the left side of the road you will see a few small parking areas, but the larger one is on the gravel road under the bridge, which is also the starting point for the trail to Jerebica.
b) From Bovec, drive to the Predel border crossing, from which you descend to the Italian side. At Lake Rabel, you will reach a crossroads where you turn left towards the Neveje Pass / Sella Nevea (straight ahead is the road to Rabel / Cave di Predil and Trbiz). Continue as described above.

Path description:
At the start of the trail (towards Sella Nevea - that is, before the bridge on the right-hand side of the road) there is an info board and signposts for several destinations. We start walking along a comfortable path - Italian marker 625, through the woods on the right side of the Rio Bianco stream, with a slight climb for a while. This stream is the name of the valley of the White Water (Italian Rio Bianco). The trail then crosses the stream bed several times, where you can occasionally refresh yourself in the small pools. Later, the path turns a little to the left and then a little to the right, followed by a short climb in the keys to the Brunner hut (1432 m), the former hunting lodge of the Saxon king, which is reached in just over an hour's walk. There are benches in front of the hut for a rest stop, but the forest means that there is not much of a view around. At the hut, where there is also a fork in the trail (to the left of the hut, for example, the difficult King of Saxony trail leads to the Corsi hut), we continue straight ahead after the hut on the 625 trail towards the Gorizia bivouac. The path then soon emerges from the forest and climbs along the stream bed through dwarf pines. In the middle of the slope the path turns left and leads to a crossroads, where the path continues to the left towards the Gorizia bivouac, and to the right the path branches off towards the White Water Stump (ital. Forca di Rio Bianco). Dwarf pines then ends shortly, and the path starts to climb a little more steeply and turns into rocky terrain with grasses. When the path flattens out again, we see a sign on a large rock by the path: Bivacco, pointing to the left towards the bivouac (there are two bivouacs), to which we have less than 100 metres, and to the right or further on leads a direct path towards the Krniška notch (ital. Forcella del Vallone), located between Trbiško Krniško Špica (on the right) and Mali Špice (on the left), where the well-known Centenary Trail passes.
From the Gorizia bivouacs (1950 m) you can see the magnificent north face of the High White Spit, but the northern approaches require mountaineering skills (climbing from IV and up). As the mountain is more easily accessible from the south side, after the bivouacs we head upwards, first on scree, then over rough terrain and over easier rock steps to the top of the notch called the Upper Stub of the White Stream (Italian: Forcella Alta di Riobianco), or to the small saddle between Visoka Bela Špica and the Little Spits on the right, where the Centenary Route ends or begins. From the bivouacs onwards, the route is not marked, but it is quite traceable, you have to look for the best passages between the rubble, scattered rocks and a small gully, but you have to keep your eyes on the path upwards towards the notch, because after the bivouacs there are also a couple of offshoots to the left, for the aforementioned climbing northern approaches. From the bivouacs to the Upper Stub or saddle is less than half an hour. At the saddle it is good to take a little time and look at the route of the approach from below, although the big crevasse or natural rock jam logically shows us the route of the ascent. We start our climbing about 10 m lower, and to the right, south of the saddle, on a more level and comfortable shaft about 20 m up to a sheltered jetty and a narrow rock passage, over which we head left towards the central part of the col. The difficulty then quickly reaches and exceeds level I, followed by a more difficult continuation below the central belly section and a passage over it, where the wall becomes quite upright (approx. level II - III, perhaps III in a short section), easier left into the rock jam. According to the general assessment and due to the greater exposure, the right groove across the central belly of the crack is more difficult, but there are two anchor points or belaying in this part, which can be used, especially on the way back, as a useful descending aid.
The last part of the climb, below the exit to the ridge, is a little easier, but it should be noted that in this part there is more rubble and rocks on the rocks and ledges, which increases the possibility of slipping. From the lower jetty over the crack or jam up to the ridge exit is about 80 m of quite difficult rock, which generally offers very good holds, but the climb to the end requires total concentration. Before you get out on the ridge, it is worth noting the upper anchorage for the descent along the rope on the right, which is located just below the last green island dwarf pines.
Once we have climbed over the rock crevasse and out onto the ridge, the mountain becomes much more accessible from this - the south side, taking just under 15 minutes to reach the summit, on more or less easy terrain.
Visoka Bela Špica has a longer, flatter ridge at the top, which is not as narrow as one might think if one observes it from a distance, there is a box with a registration book at the top, and otherwise there are wonderful views from the top of the summit of the higher group of mountains, the Kanin mountains and our western Julian Mountains around Mangart.
The descent is the same as the ascent, but it is best to use a rope and the appropriate belaying for the descent over the rock peak to the saddle. At the time of our visit (in August 2017), four abseil anchorages had been arranged, so theoretically 40 m of rope is sufficient. To free climb down, you need quite a bit of knowledge, mileage and experience of this kind, so judge beforehand if you are up to it, but otherwise belaying over the central, most difficult part of the wall is almost a must, even for average alpinists. Once we have descended back to the saddle or Zgornja notch, we can return to the bivouacs or continue along the Centenary Trail (protected, interesting and scenic) to Krniško notch and descend from there to the bivouacs.
The ascent from the notch to the High White Spit is most suitable in the summer months, but on cold days it is also important to take into account the fact that the SW slope is still in shade in the morning and that the rock is still relatively cold at an early hour. But, in conclusion, let's summarise the point: ascending a mountain from a saddle, and especially descending, requires proper mountaineering skills and technical belaying.

On the way: koča Bruner (1432m), Bivouac Gorizia (1950m)

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