CIMA D'OLTRO

by Via Normale, from Località Domadore

A climbing route that is not difficult but delicate, highly satisfactory for the climber who likes uncrowded routes and beautiful landscapes.

Hammer and nails are recommended, as well as some lanyard and quick links to equip or reinforce some double rope points.

Access

From near Gosaldo, take a small road leading to Località Domadore, where there is a pitch to park.

Approach

At the fork near the parking, take the road to Malga Cavallera. At the next junction, you can continue along the road, or take the left path that climbs more quickly to the hut.

While approaching the hut, you can see the outline of Sass d'Ortiga:

Go past the hut, on a trail in the grass, then bend to the left and cross. As you reach the edge of the pasture, you reach and pass over a cross:

The long trail continues along the side of the mountain:

Reach and exceed the fork to Forcella d'Oltro, then pass under the walls of the Cima d'Oltro:

Then on your right opens up the canyon heading to Forcella Gamberina; there you stray from the path and climb up the canyon:

The starting point is located at an altitude of about 2050 m, at the base of a gully of gravel and grass that climbs steeply to the right:

Route

Go up the gully, which about halfway is blocked by a stuck boulder, until you reach a grassy clevis:

Cross to the right until you reach the a further grassy clevis. Looking back, there are two characteristic pinnacles that were to the right of the first clevis:

To the left of the second clevis opens a rocky gully of grade II with passages of III:

Climb it up completely, until you reach the base of an inclined slab that goes up to the left:

Climb the plaque, then go round the edge to the right, and cross to the left under the yellow roofs until you find a narrow gully of grade II, crumbly:

Climb it up entirely, then turn left finding some easy rocks and a short dihedral:

This way you reach the secondary summit. On it you find a lanyard on a spike, which you would better to reinforce, from which you run a short double rope descent towards the saddle between the secondary summit and the top:

From the saddle, you will reach quickly and easily the top. You should leave the rope on the spot, to facilitate the subsequent climb on your way back, if you are planning to return on the same route.

Return

One possibility consists of a descent of about ten double ropes, on the south side, arriving directly into the gully of Forcella Gamberina.

The author and his partners have preferred to retrace the route forward, with a twist. Having climbed back to the secondary summit and down the dihedral, instead of going down the crumbly gully, they have equipped a double rope descent from a spike:

The descent of about 45 m leads directly to the top of the inclined slab. From there you can optionally make a second descent of 30 meters to get to the base of the plaque.