Ridge of Dente del Sief
Technical difficulty: 5/10
Fitness: 6/10
Objective danger: 6/10 (some fixed ropes and technical trails along the way)
Landscape: 7/10
Busy: 3/10
A relatively unfrequented round from Capanna Alpina parking lot to Passo Valparola, Castello di Andraz, Col di Lana, Dente del Sief, Pico Setsas, Forcella de Salares and Rifugio Scotoni. With amazing views of Dolomite faces along the way.
Starting point: Capanna Alpina Parking lot
Ending point: Capanna Alpina Parking lot
Length: 27km
Vertical: 1800m
Speed: Mostly quite technical Dolomite trails.
Route:
You start by running down from the parking lot back to the main road. We run on the main road for a couple of hundred meters south before turning off onto a forest road leading uphill. You will climb about 500 vertical meters towards the Valparola pass, passing the Malga Valparola Alm along the way and crossing the main road a couple of times.
From the pass, we head south into the valley, passing a small lake and then roughly following the river downstream until the Castello di Andraz. The trail starts traversing south-west and slowly turns into a climb, initially gently and eventually following a steep ridge through the forest towards the summit of Col di Lana. Once you leave the forest, you can see the entire ridge we will follow, climbing steeply to the summit of Col di Lana (2452m) with a wooden chappel at the top.
From here, you will follow the rocky ridge with the remains of old WW1 trenches along the way. These provide for some nice technical trails and also a really interesting trip into history. After passing the summit of Dente del Sief (2424m), you will cross a big crater created by a mine during the war and climb again towards the summit of Sief (2424m).
Continue to head north on the ridge, which turns downhill now and heads towards an impressive wall of Monte Castello massif. You can tag a small summit of Pic Setsas (2429m) before you start running under the large wall north-east back towards the Valparola pass. The trail shortly turns up again and after a 100 or so vertical meters back to the pass, you can stop for some refreshments at the Rifugio “Passo Valparola” before you continue.
For the way back to the parking lot, run a few hundred meters north downhill on the main road, before turning off to a trail that continues north towards Forcela de Salares. The trail to the saddle is made of really short zig-zags and looks quite impressive as you approach it. All that’s left from here is a long downhill along the ski slopes back to your car. You will pass Rifugio Scotoni along the way, which is another excellent place to stop for a refreshment.
Pro tip: You can extend the loop from Rifugio Scotoni to the Forcella del Lago, as described here.
Photos by @the.running.nomad and @annikasuess
