Rifugio Dibona - Tre Dita (Via Ferrata Lipella)

Access to starting point:
First, we drive to Cortina d'Ampezzo (you can get here via the border crossing Rateče or Predel to Trbiž / Tarvisio and then on the highway in the direction of Udine to the exit Tolmezzo. From Tolmezzo we follow the road in the direction of the village Ampezzo and the mountain pass Passo della Mauria. The road then descends and brings us to a junction, where we continue left (right also possible) in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo. At all following junctions, we follow the signs for Cortina d'Ampezzo. Or from the Primorska side, where we drive on the highway in the direction of Trst / Trieste. Further, we drive on the Italian highway in the direction of Padova, but only to the highway junction, where we continue in the direction of Veneto and Belluno. Near Belluno the highway ends, and we continue in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo at the next junctions and then follow the signs for the alpine pass Passo di Falzarego. We then follow this ascending road to the place where the road to the hut rifugio Dibona branches off to the right (branch-off at approx. 1700 m). The quite damaged and initially asphalted road brings us higher to a junction, where we continue on the left lower road (right hut Duca d'Aosta) and follow it to the parking lot for the hut Dibona.

Route description:
From the parking lot, we continue on a macadam road past a gate. We follow this road to a junction with signposts, where we turn left onto the footpath following the signs »Via Ferrata Lipella«, right leads path 403 towards the hut Rifugio Giussani. Already after a few meters we are again at a junction. This time we turn right also following the signs »Via Ferrata Lipella«. The path then in ascent crosses the slopes below the mighty south wall of Tofana towards the west. Initially we ascend through dwarf pines, which are soon replaced by scree. When we approach the wall completely we are again at a junction. We turn left and continue crossing scree towards the west. Right leads the path towards the hut Rifugio Giussani, straight ahead the secured path »Grotta della Tofana«.

After crossing the scree we will be again at a junction, where we turn right following the signs »Via Ferrata Lipella«. The path here turns slightly towards the north and then we soon enter the climbing part of the path. With the help of brackets and a ladder we ascend almost vertically upwards. Then follows another ascent on a ladder, which brings us into the military tunnel (Galleria del Castelletto). The path then for quite some time leads through military tunnels through which we also ascend quite steeply a few times. The military tunnel is approximately 500 meters long and ascends 120 meters. From the tunnel we then descend with the help of steel cables onto a slightly less steep slope below the summit Il Castelletto. Follows traversing on narrow ledges towards the north, then the path becomes very demanding. A few times we ascend almost vertically with only the steel cable for help. Later on a short overhanging section a bracket also helps us. The path then continues crossing the west wall towards the north. Mostly we walk on narrow ledges, occasionally steeply ascending. On the path we also descend a little a few times. Such a path continues all the way to the junction just before the summit Tre Dita (three fingers). It should also be noted that when crossing narrow ledges water often flows from the vertical walls above us. At times when snow is still melting higher up these are real small waterfalls that can thoroughly soak us.

At the junction we turn left and already after a few steps we reach the northern slopes of the mountain. On the left side we will notice the summit Tre Dita, which is criss-crossed with military tunnels.

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