Rifugio Dibona - Tofana di Mezzo (Via Ferrata Formenton)

Access to the starting point:
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 where a road forks off to the right in the direction of the Rifugio Dibona hut (the fork is at a height of about 1700 m). At first, the asphalted road leads higher up to a crossroads, where you continue on the lower road on the left (Duca d'Aosta hut on the right) and follow it to the parking lot behind the Dibona hut.
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 at the Dibona hut, continue right on 421. The path initially crosses scree and begins to climb gently. The path runs eastwards and soon leads to a slightly wider torrential ravine. At the ravine, the path turns left and starts to climb steeply along the ravine. Due to the shifting sands, a little caution is needed in this part. The path then crosses the ravine and continues to climb quite steeply.
Later, a direct path branches off to the right quite inconspicuously towards hut Rifugio Duca d'Aosta, and just after that the protected Via ferrata Astaldi trail joins us from the left. From the crossroads, the trail then climbs for some time through dwarf pines and soon leads to the Rifugio Pomedes hut.
At the hut, continue northwards following the signs "Sentiero Attrezzato Giuseppe Olivieri", descending a little at first and then crossing the scree above the ski slope. The path then passes under the buttresses on the east side of the Punta Anna peak and climbs a few times along the cableway. The path then crosses some exposed ravines and then climbs above slightly steeper slopes.
Later on, the route becomes a little more challenging, climbing over a vertical ladder and then climbing steeply along a steel track a few more times. The path then turns slightly to the left and then climbs a less steep slope. The view from the path is very good, especially of the peaks above Cortina d'Ampezzo, but to the south we also get views towards Monte Pelmo and Civetta. Then comes the slightly steeper part of the trail, where we again have the help of a ladder and a few rope ladders. The trail then becomes less demanding and leads to the ski slope, from which we can see the view towards Tofani di Mezzo.
At the marked crossroads, continue downhill to the right towards the Rifugio Ra Valles hut, and to the left the path leads to the Punta Anna and Tofana di Mezzo peaks. The trail continues gently downhill for most of the way and leads to the Ra Valles hut, where there is also a gondola station.
From the hut, continue northwards, descending gently, and then bear left to the base of the Tofana di Mezzo and Tofana di Dentro peaks. The path then ascends for a short distance and soon enters the Parco Naturale delle Dolomites d'Ampezzo. The path then continues northwards for some time and leads to a marked crossroads. To the right, the path leads down the Canalon de Ra Ola valley, while we continue slightly to the left and climb on the scree below the cliffs of the summit of Tofana di Dentro. The path along the scree leads to the military ruins from the First World War. Here we continue slightly to the right and the path leads us through a window to steeper slopes. The path then turns slightly to the left and climbs up the steep slope, mostly in steep switchbacks. The slope here is quite steep and occasionally we are helped by a small cable car. The path then turns to the right and there is a slightly exposed traverse which leads to a saddle on the south side of the summit of Cima Formenton.
At the saddle, where the view to the west opens up, continue to the left and then climb up the slope along the ridge. In a few places we are also helped by a ropeway, and then the path curves slightly to the left and, after crossing it, leads to the Baracca degli Alpini bivouac.
From the bivouac, after a short crossing, the path soon leads us to a ridge which we then climb for some time. Further along, the path from the ridge leads us to the scree on the eastern side of the summit of Tofana di Dentro. Initially, the scree is traversed southwards in the ascent, then the path turns to the right and climbs up a relatively steep scree slope to the very scenic summit of Tofana di Dentro.
From the top, continue southwards and start a fairly steep descent using the cable car. Along the way you will also see some military ruins and tunnels from the First World War. The trail continues along the left side of the ridge and continues to descend. Later, the path leads to a ridge from which the view towards Tofana di Rozes and Marmolada opens up again. There is a short descent along an exposed but well protected ridge to the Forcella Tofana notch, located between Tofana di Dentro and Tofano di Mezzo.
From the saddle, the trail starts to climb again and follows the right (west) side of the ridge. The path here is quite steep and most of the time we are helped by a cable car. However, due to the rubble on the path, a little more caution is needed. Later, we join the wide path from the gondola lift and there is only a short, easy climb to the top. The descent is relatively long, but can be shortened considerably by using the gondola. The first option is to take the gondola to the Ra Valles hut (August 2012 - €6) and then follow the ascent route past the Pomedes hut back to the starting point. Alternatively, take the gondola to hut Col Druscie, walk down to the Pietofana restaurant and then take the chairlift to the Pomedes hut from which you descend back to the starting point. If you are not tied to the starting point, you can take the cable car all the way to Cortina d'Ampezzo.

On the way: Rifugio Pomedes (2203m), Rifugio Ra Valles (2470m), Bivacco Baracca degli Alpini (2922m), Tofana di Dentro (3238m), Forcella Tofana (3084m)

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