Passo Campolongo - Pizes dl Valun (Via Ferrata Vallon)

Access to the starting point:
Drive through the Karavanke Tunnel into Austria, then continue to Spittal and on to Lienz (the motorway ends a little after Spittal). We continue along a relatively nice and wide road through the Drava Valley, which leads us into Itali. The road continues past Dobbiaco/Toblach and Brunico/Bruneck. Just after the last-mentioned town, which is passed by a bypass road, we turn left into the Val Badia valley. Continue along the valley past La Vila and Corvara. Then climb up to the Passo Campolongo. A few hundred metres before the pass, you will see a gravel parking area on your left. The parking lot is located behind the Hotel Laguscei, opposite the bus stop. The lower station of the chairlift is also along the road. There is also a smaller parking lot on the right hand side of the road in front of the bus station.

Path description:
From the parking lot, continue along the main road (south) to the Hotel Boe, which is on the right west side of the road. At the hotel, where there are also signs, turn right onto the dirt road after the signs "Rifugio Lago Boe". After the hotel, the road turns right and descends a little, then starts to climb and crosses the ski slope. The road then climbs briefly through the woods and then leads to mountain pasture Malga Plan Fisti.

Continue on the road via mountain pasture and just after mountain pasture you will reach a marked crossroads where a footpath branches off to the left towards the Kaiser Hütte hut. We continue to the right and continue to climb up the road. After a short climb, the 638A trail then branches off to the right towards the summit of Crep de Munt. We continue left along the road, which offers beautiful views towards the Marmolada and the mountains above the Val Badia valley. The road climbs a little steeper here and leads us back to the ski slopes. A little higher up, the road turns to the right and continues to climb along the mostly grassy slopes. The road then becomes flatter and soon leads to the Rifugio Lago Boe hut. The hut is also reached by a circular cable car from Corvara in Val Badia. Near the hut, there is also the lower station of the chairlift leading to the Vallon peak (2530m). Both lifts are also in operation during the summer months.

Near the hut where there is a crossroads, continue left along the ski slope to the signs for Lech de Boe lake and Ütia Franz Kostner hut. The trail follows the right edge of the ski slope and after a short climb leads to the aforementioned lake, which is located to the right of the ski slope under a rocky ridge.

From the lake, continue along route 638, which turns left and crosses the ski resort. The trail then runs slightly to the left of the ski slope on partly grassy terrain. The path soon leads to a marked crossroads where path 636 branches off to the left towards the Kaiser Hütte (Rifugio Bec de Roces). We continue on the path as it climbs the slope parallel to the ski slope and soon path 646A branches off to the right towards the summit of Boeseekofel (Piz da Lech). We continue along the path to the left of the ski slope and slowly beautiful views begin to open up towards the Ütia Franz Kostner hut and the precipitous cliffs of the nearby peaks in the Sella mountain group. The slope becomes a little more gentle and the path leads to a marked crossroads.
The path to the right branches off towards the top station of the Vallon cable car and on to the top of Boeseekofel (Piz da Lech), and we continue left along the 638 towards the Ütia Franz Kostner hut. The wide and scenic trail runs westwards and quickly leads to another crossroads.

To the left is just a short climb to the Ütia Franz Kostner hut. If you also visit the hut, then return to the crossroads and continue right on route 638. Just after the crossroads, the path turns left and climbs up towards the scree fields, where we are at the crossroads again.

This time leave 638 and turn right onto the path called Roda de Valun. The path then runs north-westwards, following the scree to a valley surrounded by precipitous peaks. The path here first crosses the scree on the left side of the valley in an ascent and then leads to flatter terrain where there is also a crossroads.

To the right is the easy circular route Roda de Valun, and we continue left towards the protected climbing route Via Ferrata Vallon, where we are directed by a large sign on a rock. The path, which is marked here with red and blue markings, then climbs up the scree and leads to the wall where the protected route begins. Before entering the protected part of the route, equip yourself with a helmet and a self-protection kit.

The sheltered path turns right at the start and climbs steeply along the steel cable a few times. The ropes are quite loose in this part and the distance between the rungs to which the ropes are attached is also quite large. The path then turns slightly to the left for a short distance and leads under steeper slopes. Here again we continue to the right and after a few traversing climbs on the exposed slope the path leads us to a suspension bridge. Cross the bridge over a small waterfall and then the climb becomes a little more difficult. The path climbs almost vertically upwards to the left after the bridge and some hand strength is required to progress (difficulty C). The difficult part is relatively short and the sheltered path then soon ends and leads us to lower slopes where there is also a small lake.

The trail turns right here and climbs up an easy slope from which we have a view towards the Piz Boe peak and many other peaks in the vicinity. The path then turns left and climbs gently up a rocky slope on the right side of the valley. On the left, you will also see a slightly larger lake, which is located below the western slopes of Pizes dl Valun.
Here you will soon leave the marked trail and turn left onto a trackless path and continue gently downhill towards the saddle on the west side of Pizes dl Valun. From here you can also see a relatively easy passage which runs along the slope above the scree towards the ridge. From the saddle, ascend the pathless scree and then follow the above-mentioned passage slightly to the right to the ridge. The ascent is not too difficult, but the rubble still requires some caution. When you reach the ridge, continue left and soon reach the summit of the small cairn on a gentle slope. From the top you have a magnificent view over most of the Sella mountain group.

From the summit, descend back to the aforementioned saddle on the west side of the mountain and then follow the valley southwards to join route 672. Follow the marked trail down to the left.

On the way: Malga Plan Fisti (1930m), Rifugio Lago Boe (2185m), Lago Boe (2252m), Ütia Franz Kostner (2500m)

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