Cima dei Preti

From Cimolais drive up the Val Cimoliana to Ponte Compol (729 m), where there is parking just before the toll barrier into the valley. Path 374, then path 358 (initially shared with the path to Casera Lodina), follows a forest road and crosses the Compol stream, runs fairly level to a pool with a waterfall, then climbs for about an hour very steeply on rough ground above a gorge, which needs care especially in descent. Above, it traverses mugo pine slopes to Bivacco Greselin (about 1,920–1,990 m) in the Cadin dei Frati, about 2½–3 hours from the car. Many parties sleep here to split the 2,000 m of ascent. Behind the bivouac, cairns lead up a gully of large boulders (I) and steep grass, then a path along the base of a rock band that bars the way to the Cadin de Meso. There are two normal lines through the band, considered equal in difficulty: the Via Berti takes a ledge to a small terrace below a 65–100 m gully, entered by an exposed 6 m slab with a piton (II), followed by sustained I–II climbing with several belays on pitons and slings; the other starts up a dihedral further left, marked higher up with red dots. Above, cairns lead over scree and easy rock (I) through the Cadin de Meso and Cadin Alto to the summit, with a bell and a Madonna statue. Descend the same way; the gully is slightly harder going down, and less experienced parties often abseil it from the belays (about two 25–30 m abseils). The route-finding above the gully relies on cairns and faint traces, so go only in settled weather with good visibility, and never with snow, ice or after rain. Allow 4¾ hours up and 7½–9 hours for the round trip.