Passo Falzarego - Averau

Access to the starting point:
First, drive to Cortina d'Ampezzo (you can get here via Border crossing Rateče or Predel to Trbiž / Tarvisio and then take 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.
Or from the Primorska side, take the motorway towards Trieste. Continue on the Italian motorway towards Padua, but only as far as the motorway junction where you continue towards Veneto and Belluno. Near Belluno, the motorway ends and we continue towards Cortina d'Ampezzo at the next junctions and then follow the signs for the Passo di Falzarego Alpine pass. We then follow this ascending road to the large parking lot at the pass.
Cortina d'Ampezzo can also be reached from the route of Austria (direction Karavanke Tunnel, Spittal, Lienz, Sillian, Dobbiacho / Toblach, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Passo Falzarego).

Path description:
From the Falzarego Pass, head south on route 441 (direction Rifugio Averau and Rifugio Nuvolau), which begins to climb up the gentle grassy slopes. After a short climb, you reach an unmarked crossroads where a less visible path branches off to the right, leading to the summit or ridge of Col Galina, and we continue slightly to the left along a wide and further marked path. The path, from which we have beautiful views of Sas de Stria, Lagazoi Piccolo, Tofana di Rozes, Averau and Croda Negro, leads us higher up to a marked crossroads where the path to Croda Negro branches off to the right.
Continue towards hut Averau on the path which gradually passes onto the eastern slopes of Croda Negra. Here the trail crosses a deep torrential ravine and then crosses a large bridge. After the bridge, the path climbs steeply and then suddenly drops and becomes more flat. The path continues up a small torrential ravine and leads us only a few 10 m further to the next crossroads.
Continue left (right Croda Negra) and climb up the steep ravine, and the path transitions to steep slopes higher up, then turns left and flattens out completely. After a short descent, we reach a marked crossroads where the path from the Col Gallina hut joins from the left, and we continue to the right where, after a further 10 steps, we reach the saddle of Forcella Averau (2435 m). Here, the path descends to the steep walls of the nearby Averau peak, where we then cross slopes that are difficult to look at and dangerous for falling rocks. The path, which offers a fine view of the Marmolada and its glacier, climbs steeply for a while and then turns into scree over which you walk to the nearby hut (hut Averau is currently being renovated, as of August 2010).
From the hut, turn left and continue along the mountain road. After a few metres, the sign "Ferrata Averau" will direct you uphill to the left. The path then first crosses the scree on the eastern side of the mountain and soon turns left to enter the climbing part of the route. At the start of the climbing route, climb steeply along a ropeway over a steep wall, and then reach a fork in the route. The left-hand, slightly easier route climbs vertically on scree through a vent. The right-hand path also climbs almost vertically, but there are no steel cables. It should be noted that the left-hand path is often wet and the snow also stays a little longer. After a short steep section, the two paths rejoin and there is a steel cable crossing to the right. The climbing part of the route is quickly over and you soon reach the less steep summit slopes of the mountain. In the last part of the route, the trail is no longer difficult and soon you reach a very scenic summit.

On the way: Forcella Averau (2435m), Rifugio Averau (2413m)

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