Rifugio Passo Sella - Sassopiatto / Plattkofel (Via Ferrata Oskar Schuster)

Access to the starting point:
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. From the Passo Gardena pass, descend to the other side and then continue left towards the Passo Sella pass. At the Sella Pass, park at the Rifugio Passo Sella hut or at one of the smaller car parks along the road. The parking at the hut is chargeable (July 2012 - 4€).

Path description:
At the Rifugio Passo Sella hut, head across the parking lot to the bottom station of the cable car that leads to the Demetz hut on the Forcella Sassolungo ridge. Continue along the wide footpath and at the first crossroads, signposts direct you left onto a dirt road. After a few dozen metres, we are back at the crossroads and continue to the right. The road then becomes a track and starts to climb towards the scree below the precipitous peaks of the Sassolungo group. The path then turns slightly to the right and leads to the slopes below the cable car. Here we start to climb in switchbacks on the scree towards the Forcella Sassolungo notch. From the trail, we have a very good view of the precipitous cliffs of the nearby peaks of the Sassolungo group, and a very good view towards the Sella and Marmolada groups. The trail then passes close to the cable car and continues to climb steep scree in switchbacks. The trail then continues like this until it reaches the Rifugio Toni Demetz hut
From the hut, continue north-westwards and start descending the valley between the peaks of Sassolungo and Piza de Dantersasc. The trail descends over scree all the way and then turns slightly left towards hut Rifugio Vicenza / Langkofel Hütte. From the Forcella Sassolungo stump, you descend a good 400 metres in altitude.

At the hut, continue left after the "Oskar Schuster Via Ferrata" signs into the cirque Conca del Sassopiatto. The path then begins to climb, initially following the left side of the valley below the slopes of the Piza de Dantersasc. Higher up, the path turns to the right and there is a slightly steeper climb on scree, which leads to the base of the Sassopiatto peak, where the climbing route starts.

In the initial part of the climbing route, you climb up and along a relatively steep gully. In this part of the route, with the exception of a short rope at the very beginning, the route is not belayed and therefore considerable caution is needed. On the unprotected part, 1-2 steps of climbing are required.

Higher up, the route is well belayed and climbs up the wall to the left. There are a few steep climbs along the steel cable, so you need to have some strength in your arms. The increasingly scenic climbing route then leads to a notch where the route turns right and then climbs vertically with the help of a number of crampons and ladders. The climb continues steeply for some time along a rope, and then the fixed safety gear ends. The path turns right here and then climbs up along a relatively steep gully. The route is not belayed at this part and again requires climbing 1-2 pitches.
From the ravine you then reach a ridge where the view to the west opens up. On the ridge where you join the easier path that runs along the western slopes of the mountain, continue to the right and there is only a short climb along the ridge to the top.

Descend the easier route on the western slopes to hut Rifugio Sasso Piatto and then follow route 557 back to the Passo Sella pass. It will take us a good 3 hours to descend.

On the way: Rifugio Toni Demetz (2685m), Rifugio Vicenza (2253m)

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