Colfosco - Sas Ciampac

Access to starting point:
A) From Kranjska Gora over Korensko sedlo to Austria, where at the first larger crossroad we continue left towards Podklošter / Arnoldstein and Trbiž / Tarvisio. At the end of the settlement Podklošter signs for Šmohor / Hermagor point us to the right on a regional road, on which past the mentioned settlement we drive to the end of the valley Gailtal, or more precisely to the settlement Kötschach-Mauthen, where we turn right towards the settlement Oberdrauburg. The path ahead leads us over the Alpine pass Gailbergsattel (982 m), after which we descend into the mentioned settlement. After we cross the bridge over the river Drau, we continue left towards the settlement Lienz. In the main roundabout in Lienz we continue "left" in the direction of the settlement Sillian and Italy. Further, we cross the border between Austria and Italy, and we follow the main road past settlements Dobbiaco / Toblach, Villabassa / Niederdorf, Monguelfo - Tesido / Welsberg - Taisten, Brunico / Bruneck. Only a little after the last-mentioned settlement, past which leads a bypass road, we turn left into the valley Alta Badia. Further, we drive through the mentioned valley and in the settlement La Villa we turn right towards the pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow the ascending road following the signs Passo Gardena. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the sign for the settlement we park on a large paid parking lot on the left side of the road (4€ – June 2012).
B) From Nova Gorica we drive to Italy and further on the highway to the settlement Portogruaro, where at the highway junction we turn in the direction of the settlement Belluno. We follow the highway to its end (we don't turn in the direction towards Belluno), and then we continue driving towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. When we arrive in Cortina d'Ampezzo, we follow the signs for the Alpine pass Passo Falzarego. On the pass Passo Falzarego (2105 m) we turn right in the direction of Alta Badia and first ascend to the neighbouring pass Passo Valparola (2192 m), from there we descend into the mentioned valley. In the settlement La Villa we turn left towards the pass Passo Gardena. Further, we follow the ascending road following the signs Passo Gardena. We follow the road to the settlement Colfosco. One turn before the sign for the settlement we park on a large paid parking lot on the left side of the road (4€ – June 2012).

Path description:
From the parking lot, we first cross the main road, and then by the bus parking lot we will notice signposts. We continue following the signs »Sassongher, Utia de Puez« on the path which runs along the main road. The path brings us to a sign which marks the settlement Colfosco / Calfosch. We continue on the sidewalk to the first crossroad, and then we turn right onto an asphalt road. At the next crossroad, we continue left so that we walk in the direction towards the church. At the crossroad by the church, we will again notice signposts and continue right (towards the north) following the signs »Sassongher«. Further, the road turns left towards the ski slope and then starts to ascend quite steeply.
Later when we come out of the village the road is closed to traffic. A little after that the asphalt also ends and to the right branches off a footpath towards the hut Col Pradat. We continue straight on the macadam road, which ascends along the ski slope and pastures. For some time we walk along the road from which there is a nice view of the mountain group Sella and the nearby Sassongher, then soon we come to the hut Edelweiss.
From the hut we continue on the macadam road, which soon brings us to a junction where to the left branches off the path towards the pass Sella Gardena. We continue right on the road and after a short ascent we are again at a junction. Straight along the road leads the path towards the hut Col Pradat, we continue left upwards on the footpath following the signs »Sassongher«.
From the junction the path first ascends along the bed of a torrent, then follows an ascent in hairpins, which brings us to a junction, where from the right joins the path from the hut Col Pradat.
We continue left and start to ascend through the valley towards the northwest. The path then leads us past a chapel and soon we are again at a junction.
To the right leads the path towards the summit Sassongher, we continue straight and continue ascending through the valley upwards. Then the path turns slightly to the left and brings us near the lake Lech de Ciampai, which often dries up. At the lake the path turns right and first crosses the slopes above the lake, then follows the ascent to the notch Forcella de Ciampei where there is a marked junction.
To the right leads the path towards the hut Puezhütte, straight downwards leads the path into the valley Langental, we continue left following the signs »Passo Gardena«.
A relatively level path then soon brings us again to a junction. This time we turn left onto path 2a following the signs »Variante Sas Ciampac«, straight leads the direct path towards the notch Forcella de Crespeina.
From the junction the path runs towards the south along slopes that are partly covered with grass. Higher up the grass becomes rarer and the path ascends more steeply a few times. Further the path continues towards the south and ascends below the slopes of the peak Sas Ciampei. Such a path then brings us to the ridge where a view opens towards the mountain group Sella and towards the summit Sassongher. On the ridge the path turns right and follows yet another ascent along the ridge to the panoramic summit.

On the way: Rifugio Edelweiss (1832m), Lech de Ciampai (2173m), Forcella de Ciampei (2366m)