Ristorante Pietofana - Rifugio Ra Valles (via Rifugio Pomedes)

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 a crossroads where a narrower road branches off to the right towards the Pie Tofana restaurant and the Col Druscie hut. The crossroads are at the bottom of the road towards the Passo Falzarego pass. At this junction, turn right and follow the asphalted road until you reach the large parking lot of the Pietofana restaurant.
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 asphalted road and then turn left onto the dirt road after the signs "Rifugio Pomedes, Forcella Ra Valles". The dirt road, which is closed to traffic, begins to climb and quickly leads to a marked crossroads where a path branches off to the right towards the Forcella Ra Valles notch.
At the crossroads, we continue straight ahead on the road which leads us out of the woods to the ski resort. Here we climb alongside the cable car for a while and then the road turns left across the ski slope. When the road crosses the ski slope, pay attention as here our path branches off to the right onto the ski slope. The path along the ski slope is at first quite faint and leads you back to the right side of the ski lift. The trail continues to climb quite steeply up the ski slope, all the time passing slightly to the right of the cable car. The rather steep ski slope slowly turns to the left, and then becomes flatter as you get near hut Rifugio Duca d'Aosta.
From here, turn left off the slope and it's an easy walk to the hut, from which you can enjoy a beautiful view of the mountains above Cortina d'Ampezzo.
From the hut, continue along the ski slope, which runs on the left side of the cable car. A cross-path branches off to the left towards the Dibona hut, and we continue along the ski slope, which soon becomes quite steep. The grassy slopes are replaced by sand, which requires a little caution in places. The path then becomes less steep and we can see towards the Pomedes hut. Here the path turns slightly to the right towards the cable car and there is only a short climb up to the hut.
The Rifugio Pomedes hut can also be reached by chairlift, saving a 1h 45min walk.
At the hut, continue northwards following the signs "Sentiero Attrezzato Giuseppe Olivieri", descending a little at first and then crossing the scree above the ski slope. The path then passes under the buttresses on the east side of the Punta Anna peak and climbs a few times along the cableway. The path then crosses some exposed ravines and then climbs above slightly steeper slopes.
Later on, the route becomes a little more challenging, climbing over a vertical ladder and then climbing steeply along a steel track a few more times. The path then turns slightly to the left and then climbs a less steep slope. The view from the path is very good, especially of the peaks above Cortina d'Ampezzo, but to the south we also get views towards Monte Pelmo and Civetta. Then comes the slightly steeper part of the trail, where we again have the help of a ladder and a few rope ladders. The trail then becomes less demanding and leads to the ski slope, from which we can see the view towards Tofani di Mezzo. At the marked crossroads, continue downhill to the right towards the Rifugio Ra Valles hut, and to the left the trail leads to the Punta Anna and Tofana di Mezzo peaks. The trail continues gently downhill for most of the way and leads to the Ra Valles hut, where there is also a gondola station.
Descend either by the ascent route or by an easier route (route 407) via the Forcella Ra Valles notch.

On the way: Rifugio Duca d'Aosta (2098m), Rifugio Pomedes (2203m)

We can extend the trip to the following destinations: Cima Formenton (1 h 35 min), Bivak Baracca degli Alpini (1 h 45 min), Tofana di Dentro, Tofana di Mezzo

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