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Monte Cornaget

jax22. 09. 2015 01:57:40

This weekend I decided on a trip to rarely visited but very interesting areas. The highest peak of the Caserine-Cornaget-Resettum chain in the Carnic Prealps is an interesting objective, the solitude on the path you can almost cut with a knife, and access to the summit is relatively easy.
The normal route to it starts in the Val Settimana valley about a kilometer before the Pussa hut (to there from Claut on a pretty bad road). To the Anita Goitan bivouac I was already well warmed up on the steep marked path, from there onwards you have to search a bit for the passage. The description from vienormali.it directed me straight up the ridge behind the bivouac, but the terrain there wasn't too appealing, so I chose another option - I followed the abandoned marked path towards the Meda notch to the cirque below it. There I found a passage to the right into the Ciadin de la meda cirque. There's even a modest little path across, later cairns started appearing. I followed this path all the way to the small ridge under the Torre della meda tower, from there I descended to the bottom of the cirque (later I realized that was far from the most pleasant passage into it, but never mind). Ciadin de la meda is a magical place where you just can't believe how far away it is from everything, yet access here is really so easy. Of course it was the ideal spot for a break and snack before the final ascent to Cornaget. This part is naturally more demanding, but the technical difficulties are very moderate and I can recommend it to anyone drawn to such wild places who can manage a step on slightly more delicate terrain. No more orientation issues from here, it's solidly cairned, plenty of cairns. First you have to climb to the Savalon notch, which is probably the hardest part of the tour. The final part of the ascent goes over steep compacted scree terrain where you can never be completely sure of your step, and a slip could be quite problematic. Extreme caution is really needed here, especially on descent. On the notch I find myself facing some kind of inclined slabby wall reaching towards the mountain's summit. I can't believe the access goes over it, but actually it's fairly easy - there are a couple of climbing spots at the start (probably all within grade I, no issues on descent), most of the path is on ledges and well cairned. And so finally I end up on the ridge (exposed), which after a few meters brings me to the top. And I'm on the highest summit of this mountain group! Though the weather wasn't quite clear, the views met expectations, from nearby Caserine and Dosaipa to Duranna, Cima dei Preti, and even farther "real" Dolomites. I descended the same route, with lots of caution especially below the notch, and from the cirque I managed to find a direct passage that led me to the marks just below the bivouac.
All in all, I can say it's a great tour that I recommend to all who aren't too scared of unmarked terrain (I was too, but it somehow worked out mežikanje