Passo Pordoi - Porta Vescovo (ridge way)

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 reach 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, 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 pass, where you park in a large parking lot.
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 at the pass, continue south-east past the Savoia hut, after which you will see signs. Signposts will direct you to the footpath to the Rifugio Fredarola hut. The wide path initially heads south-east and leads to the chapel. Here the path turns to the right and then climbs gently under the eastern slopes of Sas Bece. From the path we have a very good view, especially of the nearby peaks of the Sella mountain group. The trail then soon leads to a saddle on the north side of the Sas Bece peak, from where we also have a view towards Marmolada.
At the saddle where the crossroads are, continue straight ahead, and to the left of the ski slope the path leads to the Rifugio Sass Bece hut. The path from the saddle first crosses the grassy slopes to the south and then leads to a macadam road.
At the crossroads, turn slightly left and then follow the footpath which crosses a short grassy slope. The path leads to the left along the road towards the Sass Bece hut and down to the right towards the Belvedere hut and on to the summit of Col di Rosc. After a short crossing, the path leads to a wider dirt track where you continue left.
The wide path then runs eastwards and climbs gently along slightly steeper grassy slopes with fine views towards Marmolada. Following this path, you will soon reach the Rifugio Fredarola hut.
At the hut where the crossroads are, follow the dirt road eastwards, following the signs for "Viel del Pan". The road then quickly leads to another marked crossroads.
At the crossroads we continue slightly left on the ridge path (Sentiero Attrezzato delle Creste), and to the right an easier path called the Bindelweg leads to hut Rifugio Viel del Pan and on to the Porta Vescovo saddle. From the crossroads, the path follows the north side of the ridge and quickly leads to slightly steeper slopes with a very nice view towards the Sella mountain group and Alta Badia. The path soon turns right from the northern slopes and climbs towards the ridge. We continue to climb up the ridge for some time, and then the path leads us to the 2563 metre high peak Col da Cuch, from which we have a view of the entire Padon ridge and the Lago di Fedaia lake. From the top, continue along the ridge and start descending on mostly grassy terrain. The path continues to descend along the south side of the ridge and leads to a small saddle. An unmarked track branches off to the right here, crossing the grassy slopes towards the Viel del Pan hut, and we continue along the ridge and start climbing steeply again.
The trail then takes us over an unnamed peak on which a larger cairn is placed and then descends to a saddle below the western slopes of Sas Ciapel. Also at this saddle there is a crossroads where a path branches off to the right across a grassy slope towards the Bindelweg and the Viel del Pan hut.
We continue along the ridge to the east and the path leads us below the steeper slopes of Sas Ciapel. The marked path here starts to cross the slopes on the south side of the summit, and on the left you will see some tracks leading up to the summit. Take one of the paths which briefly climbs up a rather steep slope, so some caution is needed when ascending. The path then leads quickly to the ridge and there is a short, easy climb to the summit.
From the summit, we return to the path that crosses the southern slopes below the summit. After crossing steep grassy slopes, the path leads to a ridge on the eastern side of Sas Ciapel. Here the path starts to descend and follows a slightly exposed ridge. The slope soon becomes less steep and there is a descent along a grassy slope along the ridge to the next small saddle. Continue along the ridge path and climb to a less distinct peak called Col de Pausa. After descending from the summit, you reach the foot of the western slopes of Le Forfesc. Here, a path branches off to the right towards the easier Bindelweg, and we continue along the ridge for a short distance, but then we have to be a little more careful as the marked path turns left onto the northern slopes. An unmarked path leads off to the right, skirting the steep slopes on the south side and then climbing back up towards the ridge. We then continue left and cross the slopes on the north side of Le Forfesc. We continue on a gentle ascent for some time, crossing the slopes to the east, and then the path turns slightly right and climbs towards the ridge. The ridge is reached on the east side of Le Forfesc, which is only a short climb up the ridge. We continue on the ridge to the left and then cross the grassy slopes on the south side of the ridge for some time. Later, we will see the Belvedere peak on the left, with a cross on it. The path becomes a little less visible here and then soon joins the path from the Porta Vescovo saddle. At a less visible crossroads, continue left and then climb up the grassy slope to the summit.
From the summit, return to the less visible crossroads and then descend the eastern grassy slopes towards the Porta Vescovo saddle. At the bottom the slope becomes a little steeper and some caution is needed at the short point where granite slabs are crossed.
The downhill path then soon leads to the Porta Vescovo saddle.
Back towards the Passo Pordoi, we return along the easier Bindelweg, which runs along the southern slopes past the Viel del Pan hut.

On the way: Rifugio Fredarola (2370m), Col da Cuch (2563m), Sas Ciapel (2557m), Col de Pausa (2415m), Le Forfesc (2585m), Belvedere (2650m)

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