Western Ledges of Mont Alt and Croda Bianca

ASCENT FROM GENA BASSA TO FORZELON DE LE MUGHE

From Gena Bassa, take the paved road leading to Gena Alta and exit at hairpin turn 9 before the long straight stretch to Gena Media.

The trail is always quite clear until just before Casera Piscalor: a couple of spots where the path is hidden by various branches but then it's found again.

You emerge onto an almost flat grassy slope and arrive below the rise of the hut.

After the hut, the trail reappears up to the wooded saddle of Col dei Viegoi.

From the saddle, still a good little trail, pass an “ambiguous” fork turning left (there is a cairn) and shortly after increase attention level to follow the ground imprint which gradually “aligns to the Monti del Sole standard.”

After entering the Valle del Bósch de la Lasta, you'll find a steep channel of rocks and stones to climb (about 15 meters elevation gain), then continue traversing until you pass the valley bottom and ascend the other side, overcoming a slanting slab that is always damp but well equipped in via ferrata style.

Now climb a wooded slope with some hairpins (several cairns guide the way), arrive below a rocky band, and turning left double the ridge that leads into Val del Forzelón (the Fornel and part of the very broad Forzelón de le Mughe are almost immediately visible).

Still a traversing trail always in the “Monti del Sole standard,” you reach the very exposed ledge mentioned among the author's advice, which today had its safety cable torn: without own safety equipment, it is quite a problem.

After the next channel past the ledge, take a wide detour around another ridge, and after a flat and wide forest stretch, there is a close series of cairns that precede a narrow channel incised in the forest grasses: about 20 meters of elevation gain with a cairn marking the exit point to an upper path.

A few more minutes of various traverses and you enter the very broad final valley for Forzelón de le Mughe.

Here, to ease effort, watch out for cairns and very faded red marks.

Tending, after an initial section on straight paths, to veer left into a channel sometimes overgrown (but with faint red marks), then finish the ascent through corridors of dwarf pines with brighter red marks toward the end.

CROSSING – ALONG THE HIGH ROUTE OF MONTI DEL SOLE – FROM FORZELON DE LE MUGHE TO FORZÈLA DE LA CAZA GRANDA (FORCELLA DELLA CACCIA GRANDE) ALONG THE WESTERN LEDGES OF MONT ALT AND CRODA BIANCA

From the arrival point at Forzelón de le Mughe, take a few steps north along the edge of the main saddle and, following the first very evident red marks, start descending diagonally northwest beneath the rocky face of the Fornel – you soon find a large white-blue triangle of the Alta Via dei Monti del Sole and then, alternating with red marks, the typical white and blue stripes.

Bypass the west shoulder and start walking in “ledge or bench mode,” cross a wide rock channel and then climb above the ridge crossing the high route direction that connects Mont Alt and Col dei Séch – this last part requires orientation attention among turns and changes of terrain, despite the numerous marks and the well-visible mid ridge.

From the notch arrival on the ridge, you immediately find two key points well indicated in guides.

The first is a steep descent channel (about 20 meters or a bit more elevation loss) where, in my opinion, the bigger problem is not the steepness but the loose rocky base: caution for anyone below.

From the base of the channel, in less than two minutes, reach the second point: a really narrow and irregular ledge on a slanting and very exposed slab, with a loose metal cable anchored on somewhat shaky plates.

I did not hang on the cable; I crossed normally placing my feet (or parts of my feet given the minimal holds) on parts of the ledge, supporting my hands pressing the cable against the wall so I could grab it in an emergency if I felt any “faintness” below.

Here, in a group with your own rope, you can pass more calmly.

Now traverse long with an upward tendency, with a couple of jumps a few tens of meters each on rock, finishing below the super spectacular first white-yellow wall of Croda Bianca: the total elevation gain should be around 90/100 meters up to below the center of the wall.

Then continue with a last jump of about thirty meters of elevation gain and turn left to below the small saddle that allows passing the west shoulder of Croda Bianca: this is the third key point marked by all guides.

The rock jump start is found shortly after one of the many white-blue marks at a point where the ground trace continues right under the vertical of the small saddle and even a bit beyond.

I went straight on the path and saw that the vertical is not climbed, but turning back from a bit further down relative to the vertical, I clearly noted the climbing line because moving forward a little you can see the guide marks on the rock well.

Returning a few meters back with clear ideas, I climbed without problems.

Guides specify moves of grade II or III: in my view, the two or three central harder moves do not reach the third grade and are on solid holds, but perhaps it is better to write III for those doing it in descent opposite direction, so they can feel more prepared and cautious.

At the end remains a very exposed diagonal climb probably about ten meters from the base, but the truly technical elevation is less.

On the other side of the saddle opens “another Croda Bianca” with another spectacular “very pale” wall.

You see the Forzèla de la Caza Granda and the easy ledges leading to the final dwarf pine cut.

From the saddle on the west ridge of Croda Granda just reached, however, do not descend trivially to the easy ledges: good attention is needed on still exposed little rocks and, on this side, dirty with loose stones.

Now circle around the base of the “pale wall,” pass a large white-blue triangle of the Alta Via dei Monti del Sole, and finally (always following the marks) abandon the ledge line and, losing elevation, enter the final ascent corridor in dwarf pines for the Forzèla de la Caza Granda or Forcella della Caccia Grande.

DESCENT FROM FORZÈLA DE LA CAZA GRANDA OR FORCELLA DELLA CACCIA GRANDE

To start the final descent, go back to the large white-blue triangle encountered after descending from the small saddle on the west ridge of Croda Granda.

From here you can clearly see the channel entrance just before the lower part of the ridge where the small saddle is located, and from there you must descend.

Without a mandatory path, start descending diagonally, using the best rock strips, the very wide bench up to the channel head, then down through little rocks, steps and some easier short sections over small ridges breaking the channel.

It's steep but not difficult compared to the standard of this excursion.

When placing hands, it is almost always just for balance, and only near the exit must you carefully study where to step.

The exit is after a natural bend of the channel to the left, from which the start of the dwarf pine cut below the rock band to the left to be entered before reaching an impassable jump is well inferred.

In total, from the point of abandonment below the Alta Via dei Monti del Sole wall, there are just over 100 meters of elevation loss.

Now follow the cut for 40/50 meters with the last “closed” part where you need to push through a bit with your hands.

You reach a small channel above a big jump, and climb left about ten easy linear meters until finding a path below rock band followed right in a semicircle for a few meters to a small saddle with some dwarf pines and a cairn.

Pass the saddle and descend in the opposite direction on a ledge on the other side for some tens of meters (a couple of cairns on the left) until making a hairpin turn, and take a rock strip leading to another saddle among the dwarf pines a bit wider and practically below the previous one (red mark in saddle).

Up to here do not make mistakes, otherwise recovery is difficult.

In this area GPS reception is poor and shows “strange things” on the device: I manually straightened lines to explain the turns, but it will be almost impossible to stay exactly above GPS traces on screen.

Now about 50 meters of elevation on a steep but not bad channel (some red marks), then turn right on a wide ledge (a couple of cairns and shelter possibility) always descending to Pósta al Sass: a large and spectacular amphitheater.

From the ledge exit, descend a few meters to find final cairns of the trace that climbs the upper Val dei Forti from Boschét.

Leaving this branch of Val dei Forti, descend a bit more among cairns inside an easy stone channel, then enter left into the wood.

From the correct entry point, descend in the wood for about 120/130 meters of elevation according to GPS: there is an intermittent trail trace, some cairns and some almost invisible red marks for descending people.

Then turn right on a steep slope and reach above a cairn and red mark inside a rock channel, which precedes a nice ledge stretch to the left on the right orographic side of the channel (the ledge development should be slightly more than 100 meters in straight air line).

Here the complicated orientation part ends, and the direction back home is logical, but still very long and requires great attention to not lose the little path that begins immediately on very narrow dwarf pines to then descend a channel (30 meters elevation) “covered with cairns” up to the exit.

This descent requires endurance and patience, flowing above the Val dei Forti first and then the Val Pissón.

Many ups and downs, steep short upward stretches and longer downhills, few parts with easy straight wide walking, many twisted, even very twisted parts.

At the end, with the last forest road stretch, you reach Gena Alta and can descend to the parking along the usual paved section closed to non-resident traffic.