Italian Dolomites: Via Ferrata Strada degli Alpini
Base Town: Dobbiaco in Val Pusteria South Tyrol
The Alpine front between Austria-Hungary and Italy during World War I was marked by some of the most extreme and grueling mountain warfare in history. The area known today as Tre Cime Nature Park and the high grounds to the east, on the opposite side of Val Fischalina, were a particularly fierce theater, with troops dug in behind barbed wire through harsh winters and blazing summers.
Via ferrata Strada degli Alpini was built by Italian forces, who carved through sheer limestone cliffs to create a narrow foot path for troop movement in preparation for an attack on Passo della Sentinella. The resulting ledge, called Cengia della Salvezza, connected the Italian positions at Forcella Giralba below Croda dei Toni with forces camped beneath Undici Peak. (Click on the map above for a better visual of the route.) Today, the via ferrata has been improved, reinforced and expanded to connect with a number of other trails in the region. We started at Rotwandweisen Hut on Trail 100, forking to Trail 124 below Passo della Sentinella. The “usual” circuit route goes up and over Passo della Sentinella and traverses a via ferrata across the ridgeline to Undici Pass. At breakfast, the Rotwandweisen Hut owner had told us that route was impassable due to snow (early July!). He suggested an alternative route through Undici Pass.
This was golden advice, as we encountered several other people — that day and later in the week — who had tried to get over Passo della Sentinella but were forced to turn around due to snow depth. The Undici Pass trail followed a very steep scree slope, with a short assist section at the top. We poked our heads into an old WWI bunker and surveyed the landscape from former artillery positions on Mt. Undici.
Click any photo for a larger slideshow…
Once over Undici Pass, we followed a long but gentle scree slope down the rear side of the mountain. Even beneath a cloudy sky, the light refracted white against the light-grey limestone; thankful for sunglasses and sunscreen! We headed down, down, down — my mind already anxious about the return climb… The last switchback seemed to terminate at a rounded bend in the cliff; we couldn’t see the trail beyond until we were within meters of the bend. That’s when we realized the trail actually was visible; it was the narrow line in the cliff directly across from us.
Just around the bend, we had to cross a second patch of frozen snow and ice… on a nearly-vertical slope. We hooked ourselves onto the wire for this short section due to the high risk of a slip. We both crossed without incident and casually walked along the Cengia della Salvezza etched into the side of the cliff. There was no snow or ice in this section and no high winds, so it was not as precarious as it looked from the other side!
We walked to the end of the Cengia della Salvezza, rounding another cliff corner for a full view of Croda dei Toni. We could trace with our eyes the trail leading downward to Rifugio Zsigmondy-Comici below Croda dei Toni… and then crossing to the opposite side of Val Fischalina. Instead of following the descent, we backtracked across Cengia Della Salvezza and made our return journey back over Cimi Undici Pass to Rotwandweisen Hut.
The Strada degli Alpini via ferrata course is rated as a Level 2. While the hike was strenuous and covered a lot of ground, the via ferrata at Cengia della Salvezza was easy (Level 1); maybe the high mountain section between Passo della Sentinella and Undici Pass is more technical? Regardless, the course is interesting, historic, scenic and popular. The view across the valley to Tre Cime and Locatelli Hut is worth the effort!
