Ristorante Pietofana - Tofana di Mezzo (Via Ferrata Gianni Aglio)

Access to starting point:
Access from Gorenjska: From Rateče or Predel we cross the border to Trbiž / Tarvisio and then we continue on a highway in the direction of Videm / Udine to exit Tolmezzo. From Tolmezzo we follow the road in the direction of village Ampezzo and mountain pass Passo Mauria. The road then descends and it brings us to a crossroad, where we continue left (possible also right) in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo. At all next crossroads, we follow the signs for Cortina d'Ampezzo.
In Cortina d'Ampezzo then we follow the signs for Alpine mountain pass Passo di Falzarego. This ascending road we follow to a crossroad where a narrower road towards restaurant Pie Tofana and mountain hut Col Druscie branches off to the right. The crossroad is located in the lower part of the road towards the mountain pass Passo Falzarego. At the mentioned crossroad, we continue right and we follow the asphalt road all the way to a larger parking lot at the restaurant Pietofana.
From Primorska: We drive on the highway towards Venice / Benetke / Venezia. At town Portogruaro we leave the highway towards Venice and continue right on the highway towards Pordenone. At the next highway junction near Conegliano, we continue right towards Belluno. Near Belluno the highway ends and at the next crossroads we continue in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo. Further, we follow the description above.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the asphalt road and then we go left on a macadam road following the signs »Rifugio Pomedes, Forcella Ra Valles«. Macadam road which is closed for traffic starts ascending and it quickly brings us to a marked crossing, where the path towards the notch Forcella Ra Valles branches off to the right.
At the crossing, we continue straight on the road which out of the forest brings us by the ski slope. Here we are for some time ascending by the cableway, and then the road turns left over ski slope. When the road crosses a ski slope we need to pay attention because here our path branches off right on a ski slope. The footpath on a ski slope is at first quite poorly visible and brings us again on the right side of the cableway. Further, the path is still relatively steeply ascending on a ski slope, and it all the time runs a little right from cableway. Quite steep ski slope slowly turns to the left, later when we come near the mountain hut Rifugio Duca d'Aosta it becomes less steep.
Here from a ski slope we go left and follows only some easy walking to the hut from which there is a nice view towards the mountains above Cortina d'Ampezzo.
From the mountain hut, we continue on a ski slope, that runs on the left side of the cableway. The transverse path towards the mountain hut Dibona branches off to the left, and we continue further on a ski slope, which soon becomes quite steep. Grassy slopes are replaced by sand because of which on some spots also some caution is needed. After that, the path becomes less steep and a view opens up towards the mountain hut Pomedes. The path here turns slightly to the right towards the cableway and only a short ascent follows to the hut.
To the mountain hut Rifugio Pomedes we can come also with a chairlift and so we shorten walking time for 1h 45min.
From the mountain hut, we continue straight following the signs »Via Ferrata Punta Anna«. The path leads us past the upper station of the cableway and then it ascends on the scree upwards to the entry of a climbing part of the path.
The climbing path in the first part in ascent crosses wall a little to the left and in doing so few times steeply ascends. Further, the path becomes even a little more demanding and almost vertically ascends towards the ridge. Next follows an ascent on very panoramic and also exposed ridge. The difficulty is still not decreasing and the path still mostly runs on a ridge, only on some spots avoids the ridge on the left western side. Later, the ridge becomes a little less steep and then follows a little less demanding, but an unsecured ascent to the top of Punta Anna.
From the top, we continue on the ridge and soon from the left joins the path from the mountain hut Camillo Giussani. From the crossing for a short time, we walk by the ridge and then the path turns to the right and it ascends diagonally through a steep groove. The path then brings us on the east less steep slopes, where we soon come to a crossing. Right downwards leads the path Giuseppe Olivieri back towards the mountain hut Pomedes and the path towards the mountain hut Ra Valles where there is a midway station of the cable car.
We continue left on the path Ferrata Gianni Aglio where caption »cima« point us to. Next follows less demanding ascent towards the ridge. On the ridge, we continue right and the path again becomes a little more demanding. Few times we vertically ascend and we also get help from few stemples and ladder. The path then avoids the ridge on the left side and it brings us to the notch below the tower Torre Aglio. From the notch follows a demanding vertical ascent and then a short exposed crossing on iron spikes, which brings us to a crossing.
At the crossing, we continue straight following the signs Tofana, left steeply upwards leads the path on Torre Aglio to which there is only few minutes of a steep ascent by the steel cable.
The path then brings us to an extremely exposed crossing of a wall of the tower Torre Aglio. At the crossing of the vertical wall we get help from a steel cable and some iron spikes. After the crossing, we come on the northern side of the tower and we quite steeply descend by the steel cable. After the descent, we come to a crossing where the path branches off to the right downwards towards the window Bus de Tofana (to the window it is only few minutes). At the crossing, we continue slightly left and we cross the scree. Further, the path again starts ascending a little steeper and leads us past avalanche barriers. On this part, the path is a little poorly secured. Next follows again some steep ascents by the steel cable and on harder parts we also get help from a ladder. Such a path then brings us on a ridge on which we then soon reach the peak.
The described path is extremely demanding and it is appropriate only for experienced mountaineers with enough strength in arms and a lot of fitness. The path is very long, therefore for the descent, it is recommended to use a cable car.

On the way: Rifugio Duca d'Aosta (2098m), Rifugio Pomedes (2203m), Punta Anna (2731m)