Ponte de Ru Curto - Monte Formin (via Rifugio Croda da Lago)

Access to the starting point:
a) 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 at about 1400m. At the crossroads, turn left towards the Passo di Giau and the Marmolade. From this junction, continue driving for another 4km, then park a few hundred metres before the Ponte de Ru Curto bridge in the parking lot on the left-hand side of the road.

b) 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, turn left onto the footpath after the signs "Rif. Croda da Lago". The footpath descends gently at first and crosses the Rio Costeana. The path then turns left and crosses the slopes to the east, mostly in a gentle ascent. The path passes through forest, but occasionally there are fine views towards Tofana. The trail then turns slightly to the right, crosses another stream and then begins to climb a little steeper through the forest. The path then leads to a marked crossroads.
The path from the Pezie de Paru bridge joins us on the left, the Val Formin valley path leads off to the right, and we continue straight ahead following the "Rifugio Croda da Lago" signs. From the crossroads, the path continues to climb through the forest and then turns slightly to the left, bringing us to the foot of the eastern slopes of the Ciadenes peak. From the path, views to the east also begin to open up, with the Cristallo, Sorapiss and Antelao mountain groups standing out. The path then becomes more level and crosses a pasture fence. We continue along the valley called Val Negra, occasionally descending a little. This path then leads to Lago Federa. At the lake, the path from the Rifugio Lago de Aial joins from the left and there is a short, easy walk along the lake to the Rifugio Croda da Lago.

From the hut, continue along route 434 towards the Forcella Ambrizola notch. Here a wide and relatively gentle path runs southwards under the slopes of the Croda da Lago. Soon the last trees disappear and the path offers a magnificent view of the mountain ranges to the east of Cortina d'Ampezzo and of the nearby Croda da Lago and Becco di Mezzodi. The scenic route continues to climb gently up to the Forcella Ambrizola notch, located on the north-west side of the summit of Becco di Mezzodi.
At the saddle where there is a marked crossroads, continue to the right towards the Forcella Rossa notch, while to the left there is a path towards San Vito di Cadore and an unmarked path towards the summit of La Rocchetta. From the saddle, the path descends a little and turns right. There is a short crossing and soon the paths to Pescul and Toffol branch off to the left and then on to Passo Giau.
At the crossroads, we continue right towards the Forcella Rossa notch and the trail soon starts to climb steeply. The path here follows the valley below the precipitous cliffs of the Cima Ambrizola. The increasingly scenic route then continues to climb quite steeply up to the Forcella Rossa notch, where a view opens up towards the Tofana mountain group.
Leave the marked trail at the notch and head left on the relatively gentle slopes towards the summit of Monte Formin. Here you walk on a pathless track, but the ascent is not difficult and the cairns along the way are helpful. When you reach the unmarked headland, on which a number of cairns and obelisks are erected, the view opens up towards the summit of Monte Formin.
From the summit, descend a little and then continue ascending the slopes, which become more and more visible. In the last part of the ascent, turn slightly to the right to reach the summit from the north side. On the left (south) side there are some cracks or narrow ravines in the last part, which can be dangerous if covered with snow.
You can either descend along the ascent route or, from the Forcella Rossa notch, descend along the north side of the Val Formin valley.

On the way: Cason di Formin (1845m), Lago Federa (2038m), Rifugio Croda da Lago (2046m), Forcella Ambrizola (2277m), Forcella Rossa (2462m)

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