Beautiful climbing route, quite popular, on very good rock, viable soon enough early in the season, thanks to its good exposure. Early in the season you can find snow along the path of return.

All the stops are well equipped. You will not find many nails along the way, but you can integrate with fast protections.

Author's Note: Thanks a lot to Francesco and Armando, who shared with me this climb, and who appear in several photographs.

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Access

You can park at Passo Giau:

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Approach

Climb the visible path in the direction of the Gusela:

After passing by an antenna for telecommunications, you descend along the trail, walking between groups of boulders, until on the right there is an alluvial fan. At this point turn right, going up on grass and gravel:

At the top of the fan, you find rocks of degree II and III, which rise about 25 m:

At the end there is a small and steep green where you find the starting point, recognizable by a lanyard and a nail:

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Schema

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The route

L1: Rise vertically on the slot, then you pass on the slit slightly to the right, up to the stop, with cemented ring and nails. 25 m, IV, not easily protectable.

L2: Cross to the left, then diagonally towards a blade (nail). With a pitch of V you can reached the blade (slit, good for friends), with another step of V you exit from it:

Then climb up the oblique chimney up to the niche where there is a stop on two nails. 20 m, IV and V, a nail.

L3: Exit the niche slightly on the left, go up vertically a dihedral-chimney, come out to the left when it becomes difficult. Go straight up on the gray rocks, now a bit easier, bypass the intermediate stop, continuing to rise slightly to the right until you find the stop, on two nails with lanyard. 40 m, IV and IV-.

L4: Go obliquely to the left to reach the dihedral, climb it, passing on the right wall when it becomes more difficult:

The stop is at the end of the dihedral on a nail and a tunnel. 40 m, IV.

L5: Climb up easily but with care on ground strewn with debris and gravels, until you reach the stop, on two nails.

40 m, I.

L6: Climb the wall above the belay almost up to the base of the yellow rocks, where you turn right:

Then go up a bit in oblique, up to the stop, on a spike at the basis of a short chimney. 25 m, IV-.

L7, L8: Climb without obligatory way, trying not to move too far right, where you would find the great summit rift:

Intermediate stop on tunnels or spikes, final stop on spike, slightly to the right of the summit. 40 m + 40 m, II, III, one step of IV.

From the top, the view is very wide, and includes the Pale di San Martino, Marmolada, Averau and Nuvolau, Tofane, Cinque Torri, the Cristallo, The Sorapis, the Lastoi of Formin and the Croda da Lago, the Pelmo and the Civetta.

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Return

Take the trail that descends to the north-west. At the junction with the trail that climbs to the Nuvolau, there are two alternatives: one (see map) consists in climbing to Rifugio Nuvolau (short stretches of equipped trail), then descend to Rifugio Averau, and from there, along the path that goes along the base the south wall of Nuvolau, return to Passo Giau. The second consists in taking trail 438 om the right, which proceeds along the plateau, mainly to the north, and then down, with equipped stretches, bypassing the Gusela, finally reaching the point of departure.