Description

This itinerary develops entirely on the Pale di San Martino highland, a desert of rocks at 2,600 m a.s.l. which can be reached with the Rosetta cable car.

During the summer season, the trail leading to Cima Fradusta (2,939 m a.s.l.) is extremely well marked with signs, rocks and red marks, and it is very popular among tourist and visitors.

The winter edition which we are proposing, instead, is much more adventurous and not suitable for novices and first comers on the Altopiano.

The paths are covered with snow and the direction to follow has to be clear in mind. A good sense of direction is needed, and it is important not to follow the traces of other hikers that could have gone elsewhere. Furthermore, do not worry if during this itinerary you end up completely alone, just enjoy the moment and the nature around you.

The itinerary starts from Rifugio Rosetta, with either backcountry skis or snowshoes and you head towards Pradidali Basso Pass and Fradusta Pass. The difficulty of the hike is low, however the snowshoes will slow down your pace.

Once reached Fradusta Pass, you leave the path which continues towards East, to start climbing on the South ridge towards the summit; this is the most challenging section of itinerary, but it does not expose you to any danger or vertical drops.

Once reached the top at almost 3,000 m a.s.l. the view is breathtaking. Not having any higher peak around you, you can enjoy the Altopiano looking North and the Vette Feltrine looking South. If you have the chance to be there when the sky is crystal clear you could even see the Venice lagoon. It never happened to me, unfortunately.

The way back is easy, just follow your steps till the starting point.

Paths

• From the cable car (Funivia Colverde) dock, on the side of Cima Rosetta, follow the Signpost No. 701A towards Rifugio Pedrotti,
• From Rifugio Pedrotti, take the Signpost No. 707 towards Cima Fradusta / Passo Canali,
• Converge into the Signpost No. 709 towards Cima Fradusta,
• Cross the Fradusta glacier and take the Signpost No. 708,
• Leave the Signpost No. 708 and walk along the ridge towards the summit of Fradusta,
• Going back to the cable car by simply following the same path. ✓

RIFUGIO PEDROTTI ALLA ROSETTA

• Located on the plateau of the Pala Group (Pale di San Martino), at 2,358 meters of altitude, the hut of Rifugio Giovanni Pedrotti alla Rosetta, also called Rifugio Pedrotti or Rifugio Rosetta, was built in 1889, based on a design by the engineer Annibale. The hut is one of the oldest Rifugio owned by SAT (club of alpinists from the area of Trento).
• As early as 1896, given the growing interest around the Dolomites of the Pala Group, the hut was enlarged. Together with the expansion project, the SAT also decided to build a second building, used as a hotel, at the gap of Passo della Rosetta, overlooking the basin where the village of San Martino di Castrozza stands. However, the initiative was trashed away due to the outbreak of the First World War.
• After the Great War, which left only a few walls standing, Rifugio Rosetta was restored and subsequently enlarged in 1931. The Second World War, however, reserved a similar fate to the hut, which was set on fire by the Nazis.
• With the construction, in 1957, of the cable car that leads from Colverde to a few hundred meters from the hut, Rifugio Rosetta opened finally up to mass tourism of the Dolomites.

FRADUSTA GLACIER

• The Fradusta glacier, located on the Pale di San Martino plateau, at an altitude of approximately 2,600 m a.s.l., at the end of the 1800s was ranked as the second biggest glacier of the Dolomites, after the one on the Marmolada.
• The beginning of the glacier’ agony took place during the extraordinarily hot summer of 2003. In 2003, the mantle of the glacier broke down into two parts, showing both its precariousness and its weakness. At that time, the experts predicted that it would have been disappeared by 2015.
• Not far from the glacier, it is located the famous Busa di Manna, a depression in the heart of the Pale di San Martino plateau. In the middle of the depression, the historically lowest temperature in Italy has been recorded: -49.6 Celsius degrees.