Rifugio Rio Gere - Sella di Punta Nera

Access to starting point:
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 right towards Auronzo. Further, we follow the signs for mountain pass Tre Croci. From the mountain pass, we continue for approximately 1.5 km in the direction towards Cortina d'Ampezzo, and then we park on a parking lot at the mountain hut Rifugio Rio Gere, which is situated on the left side of the road. The parking lot is large and is situated by the ski slope Faloria - Monte Cristallo.

Path description:
From a large parking lot at the mountain hut Rifugio Rio Gere we go towards the south on a macadam road following the signs »Faloria«. The road which is closed for traffic runs on a ski slope and soon after the initial ascent crosses a gate. Later at the left turn we leave the road and we continue right on a footpath. A gently sloping path then leads through the forest and later starts ascending in long zig-zags.
Higher, we again join the road which few times steeply ascends and it brings us to the bottom cableway station, which runs towards the mountain hut Rifugio Tondi. We still continue on the road which runs on a ski slope all the way to the mountain hut Rifugio Faloria from which there is a nice view mainly towards the mountain group Cristalo and towards Cortina d'Ampezzo.
At the mountain hut, we continue left following the signs Rifugio Tondi on the road which still runs on a ski slope upwards. After that, the path turns a little to the right and brings us near the transmitter where the path branches off to the right towards the mountain hut Fraina.
Further a nice view starts opening up also towards the summit Punta Nera and a short ascent follows to the hut Tondi, which we can already for quite some time see from the path.
From the mountain hut, we continue towards the east and at first, we also slightly ascend past the peak Monte Ciasadio where there is the upper station of the cableway. The path then slightly descends by the left side of the ridge towards the notch Forcella Faloria. Here the path is slightly exposed, but descent doesn't cause bigger problems.
On the notch where there is a crossing, we then continue right following the signs »Sella Punta Nera«, left leads the path towards the lake Lago di Sorapiss.
From the crossing, the path in ascent crosses quite steep scree below the summit La Selletta. Since the path is a little less beaten and there is quite some stones on the path, on some spots some caution is needed. When we come near the saddle between the peaks Punta Nera and Croda Rotta path turns to the left and then with the help of some steel cables ascends to a saddle Sella Punta Nera. On the saddle, we can continue also good 10 meters left on an unmarked footpath to the top from which is a very nice view towards the surrounding peaks.