Hohe Gaisl

Park at Lago Bianco on the SS51, a little over 1 km south of Passo Cimabanche, and follow the forest road to Forcella Lerosa (2,020 m). From there a faint, partly cairned path leads to the huge scree amphitheatre of the Grave di Valbónes; climb just under 250 m of scree, keeping right of a large landslide trench, towards black streaks at the foot of the face below an obvious ridge pinnacle, then slant left to the higher of two ledges, which starts the route. The ledge leads into a gully (isolated grade I moves) on loose, slide-prone ground. At its head a traverse ledge out to the right, 'delicate I' in the guidebooks and very delicate in practice, is the key passage; a sling on a jammed block has been found there for a descent. Above, a succession of gullies, scree slopes and rock bands, marked by cairns and red paint, wind up the face; the original Berti line includes a 6 m grade II wall on good rock, while an easier variant is less well marked and easy to lose. The upper part is tortuous but better marked and reaches the ridge at the notch where the Grohmann route (NW) joins. Take the higher of two ledges, traverse the whole slope of the fore-summit, then climb small rocks, an easy slab and short earthy runnels to a jagged section of ridge with an exposed stride on excellent rock. A 9 m vertical chimney (II, good rock, a peg for abseiling) gives access to the summit plateau. The guidebooks give about 6 hours from Forcella Lerosa to the summit and 5 hours or more back down by the same route. In rain the mountain is a trap: the rock and clay become treacherous and stonefall increases.