Collina - Monte Volaia / Wolayer Kopf (path 141)

Access to the starting point:
From Trbiz/Tarvisio, take the motorway to Udine/Vidmo. Leave the motorway at the Tolmezzo exit. At Tolmezzo, you also leave the road leading to the Passo di Croce Carnico / Plockenpass and head towards Villa Santina. In Villa Santina, at the roundabout, go straight ahead following the signs for Ovaro, Sappada. Follow this road until Forni Avoltri, where turn right after the Collina signs. Follow the asphalted road to Collina. In Collina, follow the upper road on the left towards the centre of the village. The road then leads you through the beautifully landscaped village centre, paved with cobblestones. Immediately afterwards, turn left up the narrow Via del Leone. At the first crossroads, turn left again and continue for another 10 metres to a parking area by a steel cable.

Path description:
From the parking lot, continue along the road past the last houses, then the road becomes cart track. Then follow the above-mentioned cart track for some time, crossing the view slopes by the pastures, and just before the right-hand bend you reach a crossroads.

You will see a bench on the left, and we head right up the less well-trodden, slightly overgrown cart track, where we are also directed by a wooden signpost with the inscription Forcella Ombladet 141. The cart track climbs past a small building with a transmitter, and then the cart track leads into the forest. Here cart track becomes a path which then climbs for some time through the forest. The path through the forest is still quite beautiful, but when you cross a few clearings a little higher up, you will quickly notice that the path is very poorly frequented and quite overgrown. As you walk through the woods, follow the mostly damaged signposts marked "Forcella Ombladet" and the wooden signs marked "141".

The higher you get out of the forest and onto grassy terrain, the path starts to disappear. The path runs northwards parallel to the valley of the Rio Collinetta, which is on our left, far below us. We continue to climb up the grassy slopes for some time on the difficult-to-follow track, and the views of the surrounding peaks and the aforementioned valley of the Rio Collinetta begin to open up. At about 1700m, a red signpost marked '141' directs you to the right towards mountain pasture Casera Chiampei. Here you walk along overgrown grassy slopes, with a few wooden stakes with markers to help you find your way. Continue past some ruins to mountain pasture, then you will see a sign ahead of you pointing to the left again.

Crossing grassy slopes, the track occasionally becomes a little more visible. Here we also get a better view of the Forcella Ombladet. The relatively level path continues northwards and leads to a torrent bed below a steeper rocky slope. Then we start to climb steeply up the valley along the stream bed. The relatively steep path, which runs mainly on grassy terrain, then leads to the Forcella Ombladet notch, where there is also a marked crossroads.

To the left is the trail to the Cima Ombladet summit, straight down is the trail to Pierabech, and we continue to the right on the 176A trail to the summit of Monte Volaia. From the crossroads, we then climb on grassy terrain to the north-east. There is a short scree climb, then the path turns right and, after crossing grassy slopes, leads to a crossroads.

Here, we join route 176 from the Edelweiss hut on the right, which is a shade better trodden than ours. At the crossroads, turn left, then turn right and climb for some time in switchbacks up the increasingly scenic slope. The grass then ends and we then climb up the rocky slope to the WWI-era military ruins that lie along the ridge below the Sasso Nero summit. From the ridge we also have a wonderful view of the Austrian side towards Monte Coglians and the other nearby peaks in the mountain group.

Here the trail turns left and becomes more difficult. The path continues along the left side of the ridge and crosses exposed slopes on a ledge. The path is not protected, so a little more caution is needed. Continue to cross the exposed slope, along the way you will notice a few more military tunnels and ruins then the path leads us to a small notch and tunnel where it used to end protected climbing route from the Austrian side. The route is now closed, as indicated by the signs.

For some time we continue to cross the steep slopes on the west side of the ridge, then the path turns slightly to the right and starts to climb steeper. The climb is quite steep and you have to use your hands to help you up. Climb for a while and then the path turns to the left and then crosses again. The path is very narrow in places, and there is occasionally some rubble on the way, so caution is still needed. The path then starts to climb again and on the last steeper climb you have to help yourself again with your hands. When you reach the ridge, continue right and you will quickly reach the summit.

You can descend either by the ascent route or by route 176 past the mountain pasture Casera Chianaletta towards the Edelweiss hut. From the hut, it is then a 10-minute walk along the road back to the starting point in Collina.

On the way: Casera Chiampei (1761m), Forcella Ombladet (2060m), Tacca del Sasso Nero (2351m)

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