Passo di Giau - Averau

Access to starting point:
First, we drive to Cortina d'Ampezzo (to here possible over a border crossing Rateče or Predel to Trbiž / Tarvisio and then 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. Or from Primorska side, where we drive on a highway in the direction of Trst / Trieste. Further, we drive on Italian highway in the direction of Padova, but only to a highway junction, where we continue in the direction of Veneto and Belluno. Near Belluno the highway ends, and at the next crossroads we continue in the direction of Cortina d'Ampezzo and then we follow the signs for Alpine mountain pass Passo di Falzarego. This ascending road we then follow to a crossroad at an altitude of approximately 1400m. At the crossroad, we continue left in the direction of Alpine mountain pass Passo di Giau and Marmolada. We park on a large parking lot on the mentioned Alpine mountain pass.

Path description:
From the mountain pass, we continue on a wide path past the mountain hut Rifugio Passo Giau. After a short ascent on a wide path we come to a crossing, where the path 443 branches off to the right. We continue on a wide path upwards and then the path becomes narrower and turns a little left on the west side of the mountain Ragusela. The path here starts descending and crosses scree towards the north. Later, the path starts ascending on a quite steep and also slightly crumbly slope, which then brings us on grassy slopes. From grassy slopes we soon join wide path from the mountain hut Rifugio Fedare (2000m) and then a shorter ascent to the hut Averau follows. From the mountain hut, we continue straight past the mountain hut on the mountain road. Already after few meters caption »Ferrata Averau« point us left upwards. After that, the path at first crosses scree on the eastern side of the mountain and soon turns to the left where we enter the climbing part of the path. At the beginning of the climbing path we ascend steeply by the steel cable over a steep wall, and then we come to a crossing. Left slightly easier path vertically ascends on stemples through a draught-hole. And right path also ascends almost vertically, only that there isn't any stemples on the path. It should be noted, that the left path is often wet and also snow stays a little longer time. After a short steep section of the path both paths join again and then follows a crossing with the help of steel cables to the right. The climbing part of the path quickly ends and we soon come on less steep upper slopes of the mountain. In the last part, the path isn't demanding anymore and we soon reach a very scenic peak.

On the way: Rifugio Averau (2413m)