Ossario del Pordoi - Pizes dl Valun (Via Ferrata Vallon)

Access to the starting point:
Access from Gorenjska: Via Border crossing Rateče or Predel to Trbiž / Tarvisio and then along the motorway towards Udine to the Tolmezzo exit. From Tolmezzo, follow the road towards Ampezzo and the Passo della Mauria mountain pass. The road then descends and leads to a crossroads where you turn left (possibly right) towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. At all subsequent junctions, follow the signs for Cortina d'Ampezzo.

In Cortina d'Ampezzo, follow the signs for the Passo di Falzarego Alpine pass. Follow this ascending road to the pass. At the pass, you come to a crossroads where you follow the road on the left towards Marmolada and the village of Arabba (Alta Badia on the right). The road descends for some time and then leads to a crossroads where you continue on the right towards Passo Pordoi (Marmolada on the left). Follow the relatively wide and ascending road until you reach the aforementioned pass. At the pass, turn right onto the narrow asphalted road towards the Cimitero Militare Germanico (German Soldiers' Ossuary). Park in the parking lot at the end of the road.

From the coastal side: Take the motorway towards Venice/Venezia. At Portogruaro, leave the motorway towards Venice and turn right on the motorway towards Pordenone. At the next motorway junction near Conegliano, turn right towards Belluno. The motorway ends near Belluno and we continue towards Cortina d'Ampezzo at the next junctions. Continue as described above.

Path description:
From the parking lot, continue along the beautifully landscaped path towards the ossuary where 8582 German soldiers who died in the First World War and 849 soldiers who died in the Second World War are buried. At the ossuary, turn left and follow the signs for the Via Ferrata Cesare Piazzetta climbing route. The path then leads you along a grassy slope with a view and soon starts to climb a little steeper. The path then briefly crosses a steeper slope to the right, and then starts climbing up the slope again. The path, which is mostly marked with red arrows, then climbs until it reaches a mighty escarpment where it joins route 626.

Here you continue to the right and after a short crossing the path leads to a signpost marking the start of the extremely difficult Via Ferrata Cesare Piazzetta. We continue on an easy path that crosses the slopes below the vertical walls to the east. The path then crosses this slope for some time, ascending and descending gently a few times. The path soon opens up to a view towards hut Ütia Franz Kostner and after a short descent you reach a marked crossroads.

Up to the left, the 638 trail branches off and leads over the Rissa di Pigolerz ravine to the Piz Boe summit. At the crossroads, we continue on path 626, which continues to cross the slopes below the precipitous cliffs. Along the way, you will also see some ruins from the First World War, and the path also leads you past a small lake. The path then turns slightly to the left and, after a short descent, leads to another crossroads.

This time, the Lichtenfels trail (trail 672) branches off to the left towards the Piz Boe summit, and we continue to the right towards the Ütia Franz Kostner hut. The trail descends a little further from the crossroads and another trail branches off to the right down towards Arabba. Then it's just a short climb to the hut, which can be seen from the path for some time.

At the hut, turn left to the north and descend gently on a wide path. When you reach a crossroads, turn left onto route 638.

Just after the crossroads, the path turns left and climbs up towards the scree fields, where we are at the crossroads again.
This time leave the 638 and turn right onto the Roda de Valun. The path then heads north-west, following the scree to a valley surrounded by precipitous peaks. The path here first crosses the scree on the left side of the valley in an ascent and then leads to flatter terrain where there is also a crossroads.

To the right is the easy circular route Roda de Valun, and we continue left towards the protected climbing route Via Ferrata Vallon, where we are directed by a large sign on a rock. The path, which is marked here with red and blue markings, then climbs up the scree and leads to the wall where the protected route begins. Before entering the protected part of the route, equip yourself with a helmet and a self-protection kit.

The sheltered path turns right at the start and climbs steeply along the steel cable a few times. The ropes are quite loose in this part and the distance between the rungs to which the ropes are attached is also quite large. The path then turns slightly to the left for a short distance and leads under steeper slopes. Here again we continue to the right and after a few traversing climbs on an exposed slope the path leads us to a suspension bridge. Cross the bridge over a small waterfall and then the climb becomes a little more difficult. The path climbs almost vertically upwards to the left after the bridge and some hand strength is required to progress (difficulty C). The difficult part is relatively short and the sheltered path then soon ends and leads us to lower slopes where there is also a small lake.

The trail turns right here and climbs up an easy slope from which we have a view towards the Piz Boe peak and a number of other peaks in the vicinity. The path then turns left and climbs gently up a rocky slope on the right side of the valley. On the left, you will also see a slightly larger lake, which is located below the western slopes of Pizes dl Valun.

Soon leave the marked trail and turn left onto the trackless road and continue gently downhill towards the saddle on the west side of Pizes dl Valun. From here you can also see a relatively easy passage which runs along the slope above the scree towards the ridge. From the saddle, ascend the pathless scree and then follow the above-mentioned passage slightly to the right to the ridge. The ascent is not too difficult, but the rubble still requires some caution. When you reach the ridge, continue left and soon reach the summit of the small cairn on a gentle slope. From the top you have a magnificent view over most of the Sella mountain group.

From the summit, descend back to the aforementioned saddle on the west side of the mountain and then continue along the valley to the south to join route 672. Follow the marked trail down to the left.

On the way: Ütia Franz Kostner (2500m)

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