> August 5th, 2007 - All the best newcoming pictures inserted on the page.
> August 3rd, 2005 - The new 'Summit Shots' chapter added, various pictures linked.
> July 5th, 2004 - Link to the schematic map inserted (Thanks Gangolf!)

Overview

From the north

All right, all eyes are turned to Tre Cime / Drei Zinnen, but should because of that Monte Paterno / Paternkofel be neglected? It's a beautiful mountain, having also a rich history - not so much a climbing one but a more sad one - from the World War I. Paternkofel lies north-east of Tre Cime di Lavaredo / Drei Zinnen and belongs to a broader group of Sexten Dolomites. The mountain rises only a few hundred meters from the high plateau, but is beautifully shaped. It has 3 strong ridges (N, S, E) and over all three nice and popular ferrattas go.

The mountain is popular because of its famous view on Drei Zinnen and because of its short ascent. It is for hikers with good experience in rock so they can overcome steep sections, secured by pegs and steel ropes. In Paternkofel's walls there's probably no harder climbing routes.

In order not to repeat information, please see all relevant information on the Drei Zinnen/Tre Cime di Lavaredo page. There's good information about:
- getting there,
- when to climb,
- camping,
- all three huts (Rif. Auronzo, 2320m, Rif. Lavaredo, 2344m and Drei-Zinnen-Huette, 2405m),
- weather,
- maps.

The first ascent was done on September 11th, 1882 by Franz Innerkofler and E. Kuenigl, they reached the summit over Gamsscharte. The N-NW ridge was first ascended in 1986 by guides S. and C. Innerkofler, with E. Biendl.

Views On Tre Cime / Drei Zinnen

Classic

Posing

Poetic

Other Summit Shots

Tre Scarperi

Towards Croda da Toni / Zwoelfer

Summit impression

Routes Overview

Three ferrattas climb the mountain, each along one of the main ridges. All three meet on Gamsscharte/Forcella di Camoscio (notch), cca 2650m, from where there's only a jump to the summit. But this jump can be tricky, as just above the notch there's allways a rush hour. The bottleneck is some 15 meters high vertical rock, which is well protected and can be climbed by the majoritiy of hikers in a free manner, but as some use rope, besides delays there's also a constant danger of falling stones.

> The north route starts at Drei-Zinnen-Huette, 2405m, goes by the north ridge, through galleries (from the WW1) and over open walls to the Gamsscharte.

> The south route starts at Paternsattel/Forcella Lavaredo, 2454m (between Paternkofel and Drei Zinnen), ascends the south ridge (reached on Passportenscharte/Forcella Passaporto) and goes to the Gamsscharte along it on the other (eastern side).

> The east route starts at Buellelejoch/Forcella Pian di Cengia, goes first on the southern side of the east ridge and later over many notches on the ridge very attractively to the Gamsscharte.

So, after reaching Gamsscharte/Forcella di Camoscio, we now have only this short wall to climb and above it some 50 meters of scree scramble.

N-NW ridge climb: 280m, 2 hours. III+, mostly II and III.

A Glimpse into History

WW1 tunnels

From a WW1 cave

Paternkofel saw its most sad and also brave days during the World War I. As all three routes follow military routes, many relics from that time can be even now seen: caves, tunnels, guns nests. You need only a little imagination to see soldiers fighting on these rock needles - no pause allowed, for many years, in summer and winter.

The most prominent victim of Paternkofel was the famous mountain guide and climber from Sexten, the legendary Sepp Innerkofler (1865-1915), who lost his life during a summer attack on Italian summit positions. A group of 40 carefully chosen soldiers was approaching the summit from north. Early in the morning a patrouille, led by Sepp tried the summit ascent through a chimney. Sepp was climbing as first. He was spotted by Italian soldiers and shot.

Images



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