Landro - Monte Piano (Via Ferrata Bilgeri)

Access to starting point:
Over the border crossing Rateče we drive to Trbiž / Tarvisio, where we go on a highway in the direction of Videm / Udine. We leave the highway at exit Tolmezzo and we follow the road to the mentioned settlement. From Tolmezzo we continue in the direction of the settlement Ampezzo and mountain pass Passo della Mauria. The road then starts descending and brings us into a valley Cadore, where we continue right (left Belluno and Cortina d'Ampezzo) in the direction of the settlement Auronzo. After few additional km of driving, we come to the next bigger crossroad, where we go right in the direction of the settlement Misurina (left mountain pass Tre Croci). From here we descend on the road to a bigger crossroad where we continue right towards the settlement Toblach / Dobbiaco (left Cortina). From the crossroad, we continue past the lake Lago di Landro / Dürrensee. From the lake, we follow the main road for approximately a kilometer, and then we turn right on a larger macadam parking lot.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we go towards the east on a macadam road (path 102) following the signs »Monte Piano«. Already after few ten meters, we come to a crossroad where we continue straight on a gently sloping macadam road. Here from the path a nice view opens up on the mountain group Cristallo and on the nearby Monte Piano.
When we get a little closer to slopes of the mountain Monte Piano we are again on a crossing. Straight leads the path towards the mountain hut Locatelli, and we continue right on the path number 6 following the signs »Monte Piano«. From the crossing, we walk on a gently sloping macadam road and we soon come to a crossroad where from the right joins also the path from the lake Lago di Landro.
At the crossing, we continue straight and we soon come near the stream where the road ends. Here, the footpath over a wooden bridge crosses the stream and soon brings us to another crossing. This time we continue on the left upper path.
Further, we are then long time ascending in zig-zags on the old military path from which a view is opening up on the valley Valle di Landro with the lake Lago di Landro and on the mountain group Cristallo. The path here runs mostly through dwarf pines and thin larch forest, and occasionally we also cross a little steeper slope. The path all the time runs slightly towards the southeast and higher brings us on little steeper slopes where we also get help from some steel cables. Next again follows the ascent through dwarf pines, which brings us to the vantage point by which there are placed crosses in the memory of the fallen soldiers.
Further dwarf pines is becoming rarer and the path soon brings us to a marked crossing.
Straight leads an easier path on Monte Piano on which we will later descend. At the crossing, we go left towards the secured climbing path.
In the very beginning, the secured path at first for a short time vertically ascends, after that for some time becomes a little less demanding and is ascending in zig-zags on an otherwise very steep slope. When we come to a bench, which is situated on precipitous ledge, the path again becomes a little more demanding. Few times it steeply ascends by the steel cable and then runs through a steep gully. When we come from the gully relatively short secured path soon ends.
The increasingly panoramic path then turns slightly to the left and it brings us to the ridge on the northern side of the mountain. Here we continue right and after a short ascent on the ridge we soon reach the peak.
We descend on an easier path, which in the upper part runs on the eastern side of the mountain. We follow the signs for valley Val di Landro.