Technical difficulty: 4/10
Fitness: 6/10
Objective danger: 3/10 (some technical sections on the last summit)
Landscape: 8/10
Busy: 2/10

Some nice ridge running in South Tirol, close to the Jaufen Pass. It is combining running through nice open spaces and a few more technical sections, especially at the summit of Hohe Kreuzspitze.

Starting point: Parking at Racines-Giovo Ski Resort
Ending point: Parking at Racines-Giovo Ski Resort
Length: 27km
Vertical: 1600m
Speed: Very technical trails, which are not really runnable for the most part. Last part through the valley goes very fast on roads.

Route:

Today’s route is exploring an area in South Tirol, close to the Jaufen Pass and its surrounding mountains.

Our adventure begins and ends at the cable car parking lot in the village of Bichl. If you're using GPS, you might also find it under its Italian name, Colle. This spot is easy to find and perfect for parking your car. From the parking lot, we'll start running uphill through a thick forest towards Jaufen Pass. Get ready for a steep climb! You'll feel your heart

After few hundred vertical meters we get out of the forest and continue climbing through the ski slopes higher up. The car road leading up to the pass is clearly visible. We cross the road a few times, until we reach the trail traversing west that starts in one of the last road turns before the pass.

This is where the real adventure begins! We'll follow this ridge trail for a long, long time. Keep your eyes on Hohe Kreuzspitze, a peak that looks really far away but is our ultimate goal. The trail is quite narrow and technical in places, crossing the summits of Fleckner (2331m) and Sassonero (2358m) along the way. After passing a few small lakes, there is a short steeper section to the summit of Kleine Kreuzspitze (2513m). From here the main summit is clearly visible.

The trail gets a lot more technical and in places scrambly from here onwards. But the navigation is straight forward and the exposition relatively low. The summit of Hohe Kreuzspitze (2743m) itself has a big cross (as usual) an a lot of place to sit and relax a bit.

Time to head down, but be cautious—the descent is as challenging as the climb. First, we'll navigate through some boulder fields and then head down steep, narrow trails to a hut at Klammalm. This is the only spot to grab food or drinks on this route.

Before we start the final descent, there's an optional small summit called Hocheck if you're up for it. Finally, we'll descend down a beautiful trail through the forest. It feels so freeing after all those technical sections! We'll end up at a road in a small settlement called Flading.

From Flading, it's a straightforward run back to the parking lot. Just follow the hiking signs, and you'll avoid most of the pavement as you make your way back through forest roads and fields.

Pro tip: there is no water on the ridge until after Hohe Kreuzspitze so fill up whenever you can!

Photos by @the.running.nomad and @benni.bru