Weisslahnsattel / Sella di Lavinia Bianca

Overview

Herrstein / Sasso di Signore

The route from Pragser Wildsee / Lago di Braies across Apostelscharte / Forcella degli Apostoli and Weisslahnsattel / Sella Lavinia Bianca towards Grosser Rosskopf / Campo Cavallo is the most difficult of the hiking routes to the mountain. The first part is a steep scramble underneath the shady west faces of the 12 apostles, followed by a picturesque traverse towards Weisslahnsattel. A scree traverse leads into a steepp scree gully, where numerous switchbacks take you to Gamsscharte / Sella di Camosci. The final ascents is a traverse across the south slopes of the mountain towards its summit.

For all the sweat the route awards wonderful views of Pragser Wildsee / Lago di Braies and the eastern Prags / Braies Dolomites. On a crowded day, however, it can become dangerous in the section beneath Gamsscharte / Sella di Camosci. Here often parties ahead of you can't help breaking free loose pebbles which then come shooting down the scree slopes. Also, in this section there tends to be snow until late in the season, which results in slippery conditions on an unstable ground. Certainly, the route is not easy to go up on, which is why it is regularly used as descent route from the mountain.

Getting There

See the main page for the itineraries.

Route Description

General:
  - Start altitude: 1500m
  - Summit altitude: 2559m
  - Prevailing exposure: West, later north
  - Type: Hike and scree scramble
  - Protection: Cables underneath the Apostle Walls

Effort: 1250m

Power: 2 - Long and strenuous

Psyche: 2 - Some tricky parts underneath the Apostle Walls

Difficulty: 1 - Easy

Orientation: 1 - Easy

The path underneath the faces of the 12 apostles

From the parking lot at Pragser Wildsee / Lago di Braies head for the lake and turn left to get to its northernmost tip. There, trail No 58 takes you to the west faces of the Apostles, which basically are the west faces of Herrstein / Sasso di Signore. A scree covered dry creek bed needs to be crossed until you reach the faces. There, the trail turns right (south), always running right underneath the rockfall prone walls. In several places the ground has eroded away and cables protect the otherwise precarious route. Soon the trail starts to rise in south-westerly direction, heading for Apostelscharte, a notch to the east of Großer Apostel / Grande Apostolo. A few steps westward take you to the summit, which offers a wonderful view down towards Pragser Wildsee / Lago di Braies.

Return to the notch and head down into Gamstal, following its northern slopes. The valley runs towards Weisslahnsattel / Sella di Lavinia Bianca in the east and doing so follows an eroded creek bed. There is quite some effort involved in reaching the saddle. To the left the difficult trail to Herrstein / Sasso di Signore (steep scramble and an exposed protected section on top) turns off but the Rosskopf Route heads straight on.

It soon divides in two, with the left branch heading for the village of Schmieden / Ferrara, while the right one crosses a big scree slope directly heading for the north face of Grosser Rosskopf / Campo Cavallo. After a while the trail turns south and now struggles for Gamsscharte / Sella dei Camosci across the steep scree couloir underneath the saddle. The path runs in a lot of turns towards the saddle and is very rockfall-prone.

Daumkofel and Grosser Rosskopf

From the saddle the route turns left and climbs Grosser Rosskopf / Campo di Cavallo across its south slopes. In places it gets precariously close to the vertical north face but always immediately retreats towards the slopes. Finally you reach the wide, plateau-like summit of Grosser Rosskopf / Campo Cavallo.

Essential Gear

Hiking gear is sufficient.

Images

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