Western Ledge of Cima Covolèra and Zéngia Bruta del Covolèra

The reference guide I often mention in the description is "Monti del Sole e Piz de Mezodì" by Pietro Sommavilla and Luca Celi.

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Trail cleaning

On this outing of November 8, 2020, I noticed a good maintenance of the approach trails compared to my last passage in July 2019.

Back then, the "wild path" of Forzèla dei Cóvoi Brusadi was always passable but "in a confused state": now the basic footprint is well cleaned and some additional branch cuttings and a few red marks have been added.

Especially those who have to climb (today the route was descending) will notice the entrance much more easily.

Also, the path arriving from above Val Pisson and going toward Val dei Forti has been cleaned and, apart from paint marks, is at the level of a good CAI trail: at least as far as I travelled it at the junction for Forzèla dei Cóvoi Brusadi.

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Approach to the start of the Western Ledge of Cima Covolèra

After the usual paved section toward Gena Alta, take right at the fountain the forest road that leads, without altitude changes, to cross the bottom of Val Soffia just above a beautiful small waterfall.

From there starts the path that, above Val Pisson, goes toward Val dei Forti and you must follow it up to about 920 m using an altimeter calibrated at 435 m at the Gena Bassa parking.

At 920 m, the path has a wide hairpin to the right, with a small clearing inside which is what remains of an old charcoal kiln.

On the left of the hairpin is a "monolithic cairn" on a small rock on the ground, and from there – with the first few meters little visible – starts the initial path of the Western Ledge of Cima Covolèra.

The true ledge sections start a bit further ahead, but the guide begins the description from here.

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Traversing the Western Ledge of Cima Covolèra up to the connection with the north start-end of the Zéngia Bruta del Covolèra

The first meters after exiting the main path are marked by cut branches guiding inside a faint track partially covered by twigs.

With slight ups and downs, you reach and cross an easy small stony gully, which leads onto a small ridge that on the other side slopes down into a small valley with typical forest floor of earth, grass, leaves, etc.

On the ridge you pass between two cut branches (like a “slalom gate”) and right after the small valley there is another barely visible one.

Anyway, at this point you have to abandon the traverse pace and climb the wooded slope staying in sight (10/15/20 meters, but it’s a free climb) of the rock band on the right relative to the climbing direction.

After almost 100 steep meters of altitude gain in sparse beech forest, you reach a band of dwarf pines where branch cuttings resume guiding through, and after another 60/70 meters of altitude gain you arrive below a transverse rock band, with a red heart-shaped mark painted beside a small cave.

From the rock band, head left following a nice and comfortable path used by chamois, and reach another “red heart” at the point where the little ledge ends at about 3/4 very exposed steps.

However, you can make an easy bypass below between some old dried dwarf pines, and there are also some branch cuttings signaling this confusing few meters.

Then the grassy path resumes comfortably up to a section with overhanging rocks and hardened gravel base, after which you climb on grass base and go around a ridge that leads to a nice small cave with clear signs of “human use,” probably hunters.

Beyond there is a climb on a ridge in sparse woods that leads – with a sharp turn right of the track – toward the basin at the bottom of the large gully descending northwest from Forzèla dei Cóvoi Brusadi.

Here the guide – to enter the basin – notes a “... difficult final passage over grass and crumbly rocks ...”: the difficult passage is there but is now secured with a steel cable.

After the nice gully descending from Forzèla dei Cóvoi Brusadi, you continue climbing gently on mostly grassy ledge up to the start of the key section of the entire Western Ledge of Cima Covolèra: key both for difficulty and partly for navigation.

The grassy ledge enters a wide stony gully with big boulders where you notice a cairn on the opposite side from the arrival side.

You leave the traverse path (which, according to the guide, ends toward Col Mónt) and climb the gully.

The start is easy and fun, continuing like this for about seventy vertical meters, until just below a very steep drop of several meters.

Here the guide writes “... bypassing on the right (hydrographic left) for easy ledges a first jump at 1330 m ...”.

Surely an alpine evaluation, because from that viewpoint the ledges are easy, but they aren’t so from a hiking perspective.

The ledges to overcome to the right are two.

The first is definitely mandatory, no doubt: it’s a grade II on holds of decent size and very solid, but still about 4 meters on vertical grade II.

The second ledge (shifted a bit more to the right) is more difficult and I haven’t seen a single interpretation.

The line I chose could be a II+, with final hold quite spaced, and overall it’s not as solid as the first jump.

If descending this section, it is surely advisable to arrange a nice rappel either on the ledges or in the center of the gully.

After the two ledges, bend left above the big jump of the gully's basin.

From here, looking ahead, the gully curves immediately to the right and is blocked by another higher vertical drop with the classic wedged boulder prominently visible.

A few meters after the right turn you notice a ledge cutting the rock wall uphill exposed to the left, and that is the exit from the gully.

The ledge has a base of “grass hummocks” with dwarf pine halfway where two cut branches at ground level confirm you are in the right place.

Outside the ledge you necessarily turn right on rock jumps with some moves of grade I, then the slope opens in a very steep wide valley with rocks, grass, dwarf pines and various elements, and HIGHLY VISIBLE above a large rock band with a base of clear yellow color: you must reach the yellow base.

The guide writes “... climb first straight up easy rock bands and then right for a narrow easy gully, up to the base at about 1475 m of a very evident yellow cliff ...”.

What is visible at the start is only the right side of the large basin-valley; after the first jumps – going straight as written in the guide – you notice a detached light yellow tower below the higher yellow band, dividing the basin in two.

To the right of the tower there is a possible final climbing line but not in the form of a narrow gully as in the guide.

Climbing centrally, however, grade I “abounds” among rocks and hummocks, and I did not notice any trail marks, so you must go slowly to evaluate the best “micro-line” of ascent.

Approaching the yellow tower below the higher rock band, to the left you notice a dwarf pine ridge that seems easier in slope.

I decided to move toward the dwarf pine ridge and – surprise! – I immediately saw a nice cairn above a flat rock emerging from the greenery: reaching the cairn, the branch cuttings start again.

Following the cuts leads directly below the yellow rock band at the right point, passing on the left uphill direction of the yellow tower.

These are “dwarf pine branch cuttings” and not “a clearing of dwarf pines”: they are all narrow corridors where you must move dwarf pine branches with your hands, but you pass without damaging your clothing.

The cuts are close together, and to see them – given the steepness – you sometimes have to kneel, because they are below the “surface green wave”.

Here I went very slowly because I wanted to follow all the cuts and found them all without struggling with the dwarf pines.

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Concluding this section, I believe there are two solutions: because I found trail marks to the left where the guide indicates to turn right, and because initially it visually seemed to me that also the right side of the large basin-valley could be climbed with reasonable difficulty.

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From the yellow rock band go left along a comfortable path until bypassing a ridge that offers a view of the first part of Val Ferùch with La Boràla on the other side of the valley.

From the arrival point on the ridge, climb some steep meters clinging to the rock band and then gently descend into a not steep grassy cross valley.

Cross the valley diagonally uphill to a small saddle among the dwarf pines (with a nice corridor on the right side) on the rocky opposite side, which leads into a “well-eroded” gully.

From the small saddle there is a nice path running on the right side facing uphill of the gully, and little by little it approaches the bottom below a jump.

A few meters before the jump there is a small easy grade I ramp over which you can traverse and reach the bottom of the gully above the jump.

Now go up the easy final bottom until reaching the saddle with a nice pinnacle that bounds to the right the arrival direction of the north start-end of the Zéngia Bruta del Covolèra, or to the left the start-end south of the Northern Ledge of Cima Covolera (for the latter see → Zéngia Bruta del Covolèra (or Cogolèra) and Viàz del Bus del Diàol).

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Traversing the Zéngia Bruta del Covolèra from the end of the Western Ledge of Cima Covolèra to Forzèla dei Cóvoi Brusadi

The Zéngia Bruta del Covolèra is “beautiful and famous,” practically all on ledge with a mandatory route, several “beautiful cairns” and some cut branches facilitating directional views in sections with dwarf pines.

In the direction of this hike, the Zéngia Bruta starts circling two cirque basins with some brief passages where the lateral rock band has humps slightly jutting out, and … beyond the edge there is little but air.

Then you pass a small saddle and continue on a narrow ledge, with various ground types and more vertical on the side: in my view, on this ledge the “more vertical” does not make much sense, because having a bare wall at 70° or 90° on the side makes no difference for safety – or rather for the “lack of safety.”

The brief delicate passages continue for narrow ledge constrictions combined with the shape of the side wall.

There are a couple of points where you must descend slightly away from the base wall.

You come to bypass a ridge from where you see for the first time the end at Forzèla dei Cóvoi Brusadi below Cima del Valarìn, but it is still a bit far.

Here is a first steep (but safe) descent in a wide corridor of dwarf pines, then still a narrow ledge.

You reach the only point slightly misleading for orientation in this travel direction: after a brief lowering of line, a couple of cut branches among the dwarf pines go up toward a trail that soon dies among the dense dwarf pines.

Perhaps it is an “old version” because there are other cuts guiding among the dwarf pines with a semicircle down to find the ledge just ahead.

Further ahead on the ledge, then another lowering to avoid a rock spur too low even for a “worm step” or “belly step.”

And you arrive, with the most scenic section, to the “real cat’s step” of this ledge: several meters with extreme verticality on the side but with a nice wide base even for more bulky physiques.

Finally, with a grassy path downhill you end at Forzèla dei Cóvoi Brusadi.

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Return from Forzèla dei Cóvoi Brusadi

From the pass start circling the base of Cima del Valarìn with a short ledge following the shape of a channel basin, then a bit of traverse and then … it cannot be described as the path is really twisted.

However, as written at the beginning, it has been much cleaned and improved compared to my last passage in July 2019, and if used to following the branch cuttings you proceed without problems.

There are many short changes of direction and several steep little jumps, some highlighted with new and vivid red marks.

At times it is a little jungle, but there are passages.

With just under 300 meters of altitude gain you reach the path on the right hydrographic side of Val dei Forti, and turn right to pass above Val Pisson: also here there has been a good cleaning of the ground track compared to July 2019.

After this cleaning, it can be said that you EASILY rejoin the 920 m junction of the morning and from there return to the parking.