Colfosco - Sassongher

Access to the starting point:
a) From Kranjska Gora via the Koren saddle to Austria, where at the first major junction continue left towards Podkloštro / Arnoldstein and Trbiz / Tarvisio. At the end of Podklošter, signs for Šmohor / Hermagor direct you to the right on the regional road, which takes you past the town to the end of the Ziljska Valley, or more precisely to Kötschach-Mauthen, where you turn right towards Oberdrauburg. The road continues over the Gailbergsattel Alpine pass (982 m), after which you descend into the above-mentioned town. After crossing a bridge over the River Drava, turn left towards Lienz. At the main roundabout in Lienz, turn left towards Sillian and Itali. Next we cross the national border between Austria and Itali, and we follow the main road past Dobbiaco / Toblach, Villabassa / Niederdorf, Monguelfo - Tesido / Welsberg - Taisten, Brunico / Bruneck. Just after the last mentioned town, which is passed by a bypass road, we turn left into the Alta Badia valley. Continue along the valley and turn right at La Villa towards Passo Gardena. Continue along the ascending road, following the signs for Passo Gardena. Follow the road to Colfosco. One bend before the sign for the village, park in the large pay parking area on the left side of the road (4€ - June 2012).
b) From Nova Gorica, exit into Itali and follow the motorway to Portogruaro, where at the motorway junction turn towards Belluno. Follow the motorway to its end (do not turn towards Belluno) and then continue driving towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. When you arrive in Cortina d'Ampezzo, follow the signs for the Passo Falzarego Alpine Pass. At the Passo Falzarego (2105 m), turn right towards Alta Badia and ascend the neighbouring Passo Valparola (2192 m) before descending into the valley. At La Villa, turn left towards Passo Gardena. Follow the ascending road, following the signs for Passo Gardena. Follow the road to Colfosco. One bend before the sign for the village, park in the large pay parking area on the left side of the road (4€ - June 2012).

Path description:
From the parking lot, first cross the main road and then you will see signs by the bus parking area. Follow the signs "Sassongher, Utia de Puez" to the trail that runs along the main road. The path leads to a signpost indicating the village of Colfosco / Calfosch. Continue along the pavement to the first crossroads and then turn right onto the tarmac road. At the next crossroads, turn left and walk towards the church. At the crossroads by the church you will see the signs again and continue to the right (north) following the signs "Sassongher". The road then turns left towards the ski resort and then starts to climb quite steeply.
Later, when you come out of the village, the road is closed to traffic. Shortly after this, the asphalt ends and the footpath to the right branches off towards the Col Pradat hut. We continue straight ahead on the dirt road, which climbs alongside the ski slope and pastures. We walk along the road for a while, which offers a fine view of the Sella mountain group and the nearby Sassongher, and then soon reach the Edelweiss hut.
From the hut, continue along the dirt road, which soon leads to a crossroads where the path to the Sella Gardena pass branches off to the left. We continue right along the road and after a short climb we are back at the crossroads. Straight ahead on the road, the path leads to the Col Pradat hut, and we continue left up the footpath past the 'Sassongher' signs.
From the crossroads, the path first climbs along the bed of a torrent, then follows a climb in the keys, which leads to a crossroads where the path from Col Pradat joins from the right.
Continue to the left and start climbing up the valley to the north-west. The path then leads past the chapel and soon we are back at the crossroads.
Further down the valley, the path leads to the Forcella de Ciampei notch and on to the Puez hut, and we continue firmly to the right, following the 'Sassongher' signs.
The trail continues uphill, crossing steeper and steeper slopes to the east. In a few places the path is also a little exposed, so some caution is needed. This route then leads to the Forcella del Sassongher notch where a view to the north-east opens up.
At the notch continue right and initially climb for a while on the slope where there is quite a bit of quicksand, and then the path leads us to the beginning of the protected part of the trail.
At the very beginning there are two entrances to the protected path. Both variants are quite steep at the beginning. When the paths merge, the path becomes a shade less steep and there is a short crossing along a steel cable. The fairly short protected path then ends and the ascent up the east side of the mountain follows. The path, which is becoming more and more scenic, then turns to the right and climbs towards the ridge. In the last part, there is only a short climb along the ridge to the summit.

On the way: Rifugio Edelweiss (1832m), Forcella del Sassongher (2435m)

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