Ponte de Ru Curto - Monte Formin

Access to starting point:
A) Access from Gorenjska: From Rateče or Predel we cross the border to Trbiž / Tarvisio and then on the 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 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. From the mentioned crossroad, we continue driving for 4km, after that few hundred meters before the bridge Ponte de Ru Curto we park on a parking lot on the left side of the road.
B) From Primorska: We drive on the highway towards Venice / 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 go left on a footpath following the signs »Rif. Croda da Lago«. The footpath at first slightly descends and crosses a stream Rio Costeana. After that, the path turns left and mostly in a gentle ascent crosses slopes towards the east. The path here runs through the forest, in spite of that occasionally a nice view opens up towards Tofanas. After that, the path turns slightly to the right and crosses another stream and then it starts slightly steeper ascending through the forest. The path then brings us to a marked crossing.
From the left joins the path from the bridge Pezie de Paru, straight leads the path towards the mountain hut Rifugio Croda da Lago, and we continue right towards the valley Val Formin. From the crossing, the path at first mostly through the forest crosses slopes towards the southwest. Later, the path turns a little to the left and starts slightly ascending. Forest is becoming thinner and from the path several times a view opens up on the precipitous walls of the nearby peaks. When we come out of the forest we are then for quite some time ascending through the valley Val Formin. The path here mostly runs on rocky terrain past numerous boulders. From the path, we have here nice view towards Tofanas and on the nearby precipitous ridge towards the summit Croda da Lago. When we get closer to the notch Forcella Rossa del Formin slopes around us become less steep. When we reach notch also a nice view opens up towards the south where Monte Pelmo stands out.
On the notch, we then leave the marked path and we go right on not that steep slopes towards the summit Monte Formin. Here we walk on pathless terrain, but ascent isn't demanding and we also get help from cairns by the path. When we reach indistinct secondary peak on which there are numerous cairns and obelisks, a view towards the summit Monte Formin opens up.
From the secondary peak, we then slightly descend, and we continue with an ascent on the more and more panoramic slopes. In the last part of the ascent, we turn slightly to the right, so that we reach the peak from the north side. On the left (south) side in the last part there are some cracks or narrow gullies, which in case if they are covered with snow can also be dangerous.
We can descend on the ascent route, or from the notch Forcella Rossa we continue towards the mountain hut Rifugio Croda da Lago and then from there return back to the starting point.

On the way: Cason di Formin (1845m), Forcella Rossa (2462m)