Monte Robon / Velika Bavha

Monte Robon / Velika Bavha

Page Type Page Type: Mountain/Rock
Location Lat/Lon: 46.38718°N / 13.51349°E
Activities Activities: Hiking, Sport Climbing
Seasons Season: Summer, Fall
Additional Information Elevation: 6499 ft / 1981 m
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Overview

Monte Robon
Monte Robon

The name: Don't confuse this Monte Robon / Velika Bavha, 1980 m, with the much higher and more important Rombon / Veliki vrh, 2208 m, further towards the SE, also in the Kanin group!

The massif of Kanin / Canin is characterised by broad, high karstic plateaus on both sides of the main ridge. 1000 meters and more thick layered triassic limestone (Dachstein limestone), lying on a bit older main dolomite is forming all the summits. On these plateaus, on both side of the main ridge, some of the deepest caves in the world were explored. Monte Robon / Velika Bavha is rising in the eastern part of the northern, Italian plateau. Due to abundance of caves all around, just below the summit there is a speleological bivouac.

In the eastern part of the massif, the main crest goes over the following summits: Lopa / Monte Leupa, 2403 m, Hudi vršič / Monte Cergnala, 2345 m, Velika Črnelska špica / Cima Confine, 2334 m, to Mala Črnelska špica, 2277 m. On this last peak a strong ridge deters towards the SE (on Rombon, 2208 m), but the main crest continues in the E-NE direction, towards Jerebica / Cima del Lago, 2126 m. North of the main crest the high plateau is bordered by a series of rugged, rocky mountains. In the W-E direction these are: Bila pec / Bela peč, 2143 m, Monte Poviz / Pobič, 1987 m, Col Lopic / Lopič, 1858 m, and Monte Robon / Velika Bavha, 1980 m. The summits further towards the NE are very similar, but can be considered already as the summits of the main crest: Mogenza Piccola / Bohinca, 1946 m, Mogenza Grande / Veliki Snežni vrh, 1972 m, and then the massif of Jerebica / Cima del Lago, 2126 m.

Why to ascend Monte Robon?

As we see, Monte Robon is quite an unimportant mountain. But it's very popular. Three routes are reaching it - ok, the mountain is lucky, as they originate from the World War I. From the highest point one can enjoy a spectacular panorama and the landscape all around is exceptional. I don't remember a summit in the Alps which would have on the very top so big caves, sinkholes and all other sorts of karst phaenomena. On Velebit yes, but not in the Alps. I guess the deepest caves are not just on this summit, but they are not far. Led Zeppelin is 960 m deep and its entrance is on the northern side of Monte Leupa. Tenths (if not hundreds) of smaller caves are all around the summit and for sure there are many unexplored ones. And more. As all other summits on the northern edge of the plateau, also Monte Robon is having a mirror-polished, high wall (western), which is a challenge for climbers.

Summit views

Rock chaos on Monte Robon
Rock chaos on Monte Robon
On the summit of Monte Robon
On the summit of Monte Robon

Monte Robon is like a panoramic balcony on the northern edge of Kanin massif. Just across the valleys of Raccolana and Rio del Lago the spectacular mountain groups of Montaž and Viš are rising. From the summits of Monte Robon and from the approach routes they can be viewed in every detail. Towards the east, many summits of the Eastern Julian Alps can be nicely viewed - especially Mangart, Jalovec and their neighbours. On Monte Robon we are in the group of Kanin, but because we are a bit indented towards the north, the Kanin group can be also viewed in all its splendor. The main ridge is coming from the highest summit and is then passing on the southern side till Črnelski vršič, where it is branching, so we can inspect also the SE ridge towards Rombon and the main E-NE ridge further to Jerebica / Cima del Lago.

World War I on Kanin mountains

Soon after the beginning of hostilities the frontline established very close to Monte Robon. It came from Viš group and crossed the Kanin massif, so that the eastern part belonged to Austro-Hungarians and the western part to Italians. Monte Robon was in Italian hands, while Mogenza Piccola was already in Austrian hands. Italians held (and fortified) also the nearby Mala Črnelska špica, but were never able to take the summit of Monte Rombon, further towards the SE. Heavy fightings occured on Rombon, but I guess life was not easy during the war also in our area. Despite all tragedies, we can still today enjoy at least one benefit from those days - the supply mule tracks which are a real masterpiece of war engineering.

Getting There

Visitors get to Monte Robon almost exclusively from the Sella Nevea road pass. Due to the ordinary ski centre there, the pass is reachable by car also in winter.

Only theoretically, one could reach Monte Robon also from the Slovenian side of Kanin. The ascent through the Možnica valley was never much in use, the valley-end was avoided even in the World War I. But crossing the main ridge of Kanin mountains is easy on the Prevala saddle, 2067 m, and there is a demanding, pathless passage also across the eastern face of Mala Črnelska špica.

Routes Overview

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Monte Robon W wall
Monte Robon W wall

All approach routes meet on the notch just S-SE of the summit of Monte Robon - on Sella Robon, 1865 m.

On the northern plateau of Kanin
On the northern plateau of Kanin

1. From Sella Nevea by the path No. 636. and No. 637. Easy mule track from the World War I. T2/T1, 2 h 45 min. We ascend southwarths on the high plateau and then cross it towards the E. Alternatively, we can take a cable car from Sella Nevea to Rif. Gilberti and start crossing the high plateau from there by the trail No. 636a (gaining for sure some 30 min).

2. From Sella Nevea by the path No. 637. Easy marked trail. T2, 2 h 20 min. We ascend directly, across the N slopes of Monte Poviz and Col Lopic.

3. From Rio del Lago by the paths No. 653 and No. 654. It's the longest and also the most demanding ascent route. We start down in the valley, on some 989 m (the same trailhead as for Jerebica / Cima del Lago). The first important trail branching is already on some 1025 m, where we deter righ. Then an ex military trail (Austrian) leads us in endless turns towards the SW. Below the summit of Mogenza Piccola / Bohinca we do a long detour on Sella Jama, 1769 m, then we continue towards the SW. From Mogenza Piccola we descend again on Sella Mogenza / Čez Brežič, 1700 m, and from there continue to Sella Robon. Very long route, mostly along the Austrian military positions from the World War I.

Sella Robon
Sella Robon

4. Summit ascent. It's a very short one (20 min), but not marked. Through the very rugged, rocky terrain ciarns are helping us, so the orientation is quite easy. Some rocky steps must be climbed (easy) and a lot of care is needed not to twist ankle on that rugged terrain. The overall hiking difficulty would be T4/T3.

From Sella Robon we follow the military trail towards the NW (towards the summit). We pass many remains of barracks and caverns, then we ascend steeply on a flat ridge section, where the Modonutti-Savoia bivouac stands (1908 m). From it, we continue left, crossing a bit exposed, then we climb steeply up by a rocky channel. Through the rock chaos above the channel frequent ciarns guide us. Coming on top of it, a big sinkhole opens in front of us. The whole mountain summit looks like a kind of limestone volcano! The route once crossed by the SE edge of the sinkhole, but today the wooden bridge is in very poor condition. So we better climb right around and continue by the ex trail towards the NE after some 30 m. The summit we reach is the Point 1974 m. I guess everyone stops there. The western summit looks higher and the map indeed shows the altitude 1981 m. But the terrain till there is so rugged that for the sake of those 7 m of altitude perhaps it's not worth of the effort to go also there.

Monte Robon above Sella Robon
Monte Robon above Sella Robon
Follow the ciarns
Follow the ciarns
Karst wilderness on Monte Robon
Karst wilderness on Monte Robon

Harder climbs are mostly done in the difficult W wall. In Slovenian language 7 routes are named and shortly described here. If you have more info, please post it!

When To Ascend?

Monte Robon is almost exclusively ascended in summer conditions. Snow on the karstic terrain around the summit can be extremely dangerous. Otherwise, the most beautiful times are mountain spring (June - start of July) and golden autumn (October). High summer can be very hot. In higher regions there's a lack of fresh water, but long in summer you can find snow rests.

Mountain Huts

Monte Robon stands in a remote territory, but we saw that the two usual approaches are not long.

  • The bivouac below the summit (and also the one below Sella Jama) is dedicated to cave explorers.
  • The popular nearby hut is Rif. Celsio Gilberti, 1850 m, reachable also by cable car. On Sella Nevea there are of course also many hotels.


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Kanin groupMountains & Rocks