| bagi13. 10. 2023 13:35:46 |
We wanted to visit Cristallo di Mezzo via the rarely visited variant Hospital - ferrata Rene de Pol - Forcella Verde - path 233 - Forcella Granda - Sentiero Ivano Dibona - hut Rif. G.Lorenzi - ferrata Mario Bianchi - summit.
We succeeded completely, but I have to put some exclamation marks right away. The mentioned route is extremely long and strenuous, poorly marked several times and uncomfortably exposed at moments without protection options. We spent 8 hours on it, which is a good two hours more than we need for Triglav. Then followed the return to the start via another route, which took us another 4 hours. In total it added up to 19 km and 2000 m of elevation gain, accordingly we already had autopilot on in the final part  .
Ferrata Rene de Pol ...
To the summit of Punta Est de Forame it is a medium-difficult ferrata of B/C difficulty. The protections are renewed, but there are also free passages over exposed slopes in many places. Its main features are an exceptionally large number of military remains from WWI and vertical walls that it cleverly overcomes all the way to the summit section. The continuation is substantially different ...
We started at hut Rif. Ospitale by the state road Cortina - Cimabanche. We descended a bit to the bike path, continued left, then turned right into the forest at the sign for Rene de Pol. Followed a long and steep ascent to a cave with the logbook. Not many of us are signed in. Nearby is the entrance to ferrata Rene de Pol, followed by some harder, well-protected passages. Rock is good, holds are plentiful. Environment is pure 10, more and more military relics keep appearing. Incredible, even ones we haven't seen anywhere else. We climb through a demanding chimney and soon we're in the upper part of the ferrata with a damaged gully. After it we reach the path leading to Punta Est de Forame.
Here the ascent via ferrata Rene de Pol also ends. Follows the crossing to Forcella Verde, which is at the same time by far the most demanding part of the route, officially still Rene de Pol. Soon we reach an extremely exposed passage over a steep slope where a landslide took the path. No protections anywhere (condition September 2023). Here everyone searches for their own variant, over the most trodden there's even a rock barrier. Descent on the lower, barely visible and precipitous goat track is a one-way lottery with high chance of jackpot, so we rather continued over the barrier and carefully descended the steep and loose gully. Here it was down to centimeters and accordingly no photos from this area  .
Continuation to Forcella Verde is somewhat less demanding, but still exposed. Cables appear only right before the exit to the mentioned saddle, everything else is unprotected despite steep slopes. You really can't hurry here and we sighed deeply when this part was behind us.
Path 233 / Forcella Verde - Forcella Granda ...
In the initial part everything was super . Nice, not too rough path that rises gently in wide serpentines. Just right to stretch our legs and clear the attic. Also well marked, views fantastic. Behind us Croda Rossa, ahead the ridge with Dibona. So it went until glacier Chiacc. dell Cresta Bianca, which we didn't even know existed. Only thick ice layers under scree deposits betrayed its origin. Here the path was already getting seriously lost, fewer and faded old marks. When in doubt, we chose the most trodden direction. Not always the best, as we later ascertained, but after the battle every general anyway . So almost to Forcella Grande, where we finally joined Dibona.
Forcella Granda - Sentiero Dibona - ferrata Bianchi - Cristallo di Mezzo ...
Here we met crowds. The whole path is a well-visited classic, on which most visit Cristallino d'Ampezzo, somewhat fewer also Cristallo di Mezzo. It surprised us how many people go up and down the former ski slope. There are no hardened paths on it, nor will there ever be. Also the number of hikers wasn't in our account, since in 2020 we met almost no one (here).
At hut Rif. Lorenzi we equipped for the ferrata. The hut and wooden platform around it are rapidly deteriorating, even worse with ski facilities and gondola support pillars. They won't renew this infrastructure, at most build new. Damages are simply too big, question is how economically sensible it all would be. In the valley there are two nice, arranged ski resorts with easier access. Anyway, after a short break we continued to our final goal ... Cristallo di Mezzo. We already knew ferrata Bianchi, so no special surprises. We enjoyed the route and vast views, in less than an hour already standing on the beautiful summit. Tired and at the same time grinning ear to ear .
Return to start ...
After descent from summit to Lorenzi we quickly descended the long and steep ski slope, which just wouldn't end. We also have it well in memory the ascent on it, when it seemed even much longer to us. This time it dusted us to the ass, which we somehow sorted out at hut Rif Son Forca. Below it we then caught path 203, which delivered us back to the start at sunset. To conclude ... long, strenuous, priceless . A bit more in the photo story ...
Coordinates of starting point (hut Rif. Hospital): 46.6029814N, 12.1425347E
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