1.1 FORCELLA LAVAREDO (m. 2457) THE LAVAREDO PLATEAU After the saddle between Cima Grande (the “big summit”) and Cima Ovest (the western THE HEROIC DEATH OF GUIDE SEPP INNERKOFLER The itinerary follows the traces of the Italian soldiers that were firmly dug in all along summit), descend a short distance to the church that the Alpine soldiers that built it called From the diary by Angelo Loschi, a former stretcher bearer in the 267th Com- DESCRIPTION OF THE ROUTE the frontier, which had salients at the Col di Mezzo and Lavaredo passes. This defence “Our Lady of Theft” and take the old track which has partly conserved its ballasted wall pany of the Val Piave Battalion. From the Col di Mezzo pass (2,315 m) to the rocky foothills of Sasso di Lan- line also connected the look-out posts, machine-gun positions and artillery emplace- and runs among ruined structures. The remains of the Italian encampment are at the foot dro (2,536 m) then passing military installations to the west and to the east ments located on the passes between the three peaks of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. of the Cima Piccola (the “low summit”); at the base of the Cima Piccolissima (the “very low ...When war broke out against Italy on 24 May 1915, there were few men to the Lavaredo pass. Markings: tracks. Descent: return to the Col di Mezzo pass The starting point is Forcella Col di Mezzo, the Col di Mezzo pass, which can be reached summit”) are the traces of the former stone marking the Italo-Austrian frontier up to 1915. ready to fight in the Dolomites around Sesto, as few as the tourists that crossing the scree slopes below the northern rock faces of the Tre Cime di either from the Arghena pass, or, more easily, from the Auronzo Refuge (2,330 m), acces- Turn north and you will see another small machine-gun position commanding the entire can be counted walking along those passes and climbing the walls of these Lavaredo. sible by car. From the highest car park, where there is a big building accommodating the plateau. A few metres after this there is a gun emplacement. The pieces were moved to mountains on a lovely summer day. But the nucleus of these small forces DIFFERENCE IN ALTITUDE top station of the cableway up from Cason de la Crosèra (Val Marzon), follow the track the Lavaredo pass, from which there was a wider range. At this point on the pass, in a great consisted of men with a special character; they were the masters of these (on scree slopes and not marked) leading to the Col di Mezzo pass and towards Croda del mass of rock that looks like a fan from a distance, is a look-out post with access by steps 400-550 metres, bearing it in mind that it is a high-altitude itinerary, charac- rocky deserts … they were the guides. Sesto was the homeland of one of the Rifugio. A steep slope and remains of walkways lead to a cantonment with roads, barrack dug out of the stone. terized by continuous ascents and descents. most famous and audacious guide corps in the whole of the Alps. They were buildings, caverns and imposing walls. From here, to the west and to the east, follow the After this there are no more signs of war, which give way to the forbidding northern DURATION especially skilled in mountain-climbing … line of military installations that, without interruption or slackening, leads first to the walls walls of the mountain, which we pass, taking an easy path to go back down to the Col di The best man among them was Sepp Innerkofler. He perfectly embodied 3-4 hours. and then to the heart of the Croda del Rifugio stronghold. Go down tunnels that are eas- Mezzo pass. the sublime virtues of men who were born and who live in the mountains. DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY ily negotiable owing to the steps that have been carved in the ground until you reach a This fifty-year-old man had already had an unrivalled career as a guide when Walking route. terrace protected by robust walls and supported by wooden trellis-work. A few metres he took up his rifle and put his hands on those rocks to defend his beloved further on there is a small machine-gun position in a cavern. country.... The ardent consciousness of his duty to God, his Emperor, his Fatherland, made him into one of the greatest fighters that our mountains Restored mule-track Rovereto Historical ever saw ... Alfarè I. Rovereto Historical War Museum, 25/66. THE AURONZO REFUGE ON THE LONGÉRES PASS (2,330 m) leading to the War Museum, Area of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Memorial It was 24 May and war had started, the Italian enemy stood behind the Lavaredo pass along 25/28. stone; in the background to the left the the eastern edge of Principe Umberto mighty rocky masses of the Sesto Dolomites. Nothing was known about In 1912, after much discussion and doubt, the construction of the Rifugio Auron- Lavaredo pass and Croda di Passaporto. the plateau. Refuge (now the this enemy, neither his strength nor his intentions. The only information zo started. Three years later, still uncompleted, it was caught up in war events, be- Auronzo Refuge) coming part of the Italian supply base on the Lavaredo plateau. It was badly dam- was that a ridiculously small number of troops had been picked up here and devasted by there, but hardly sufficient to collect a small number of troops to garrison aged during the fighting, even if it was situated a long way from the shooting on Austrian shelling. the front line. the most important passes… As commander of the “Flying Patrol”, Sepp When peace was restored, the Cadore branch of the Italian Alpine Club started started guerrilla warfare on the Sesto Dolomites, which were still covered planning to rebuild it. Several years passed before the project was completed, by a high snow layer... When they had the chance, they whistled the first but in 1925 the new refuge was ready: it was called Rifugio Principe Umberto and greetings to the Alpine soldiers with their black hats, the first war greet- ings from the Tyrolese Mountains ... it boasted a paid mounted courier service. In a few years’ time the Tre Cime di Istituto Geografico Militare - Aut. n. 6109 del 12.10.2005 Lavaredo became a mountaineers’ paradise, inspiring those who devised the vie The peak of Mount Paterno rose threateningly above Capanna Tre Cime. della goccia cadente (falling drop itineraries), rock routes that were very similar If it remained Austrian, it would be a pillar which no enemy would pass. in their beauty and perfection to works carved in the most precious marble by ex- Paterno was a rock fortress that protected the guides’ native valley; it was a rocky bastion against which entire regiments would hurl themselves in vain…Therefore they asked their commander to hold Paterno. But the Cap- tain, who did not know the mountains, was not sufficiently convinced of the importance of this peak. Sepp, however, reached the top with his patrol. He brought the news that the top had not been occupied by the enemy yet... The Captain would not see reason and gave orders to abandon the moun- Rovereto Historical Alfarè I. tain. He realized that this mountain would cause the Austrian defence much War Museum, 118/ 79. Area of the Tre trouble. He knew that over there among the Alpini were the Italian guides Cime di Lavaredo. of Auronzo, who were very well aware that Kofel overlooked the Austrian Shelter building at positions…… Sepp resigned himself to the decision, however, and kept Longéres by the 268th Company of his peace ... the Val Piave Alpine But what he had foreseen took place. One day a parapet sprang up on the Battalion, 1915. top of Paterno, from which the first gunshots were fired at the defenders of the Toblin pass: Mount Paterno had been occupied by the Italians. Every minute of every day eyes from the small Italian post looked dangerously and annoyingly straight at the Austrian positions below. And the event took place The return path from 2,385 m to the Lavaredo plateau. P that would never have been necessary if Sepp had been listened to: Mount traordinary artists. The Tre Cime were the essence of this new age and their rock Paterno had to be faces expressed, as Paul Grohmann wrote: “...beauty, height, inviolability, impos- stormed. sibility..., art for art’s sake...” The mountain hut therefore became a support base Alfarè I. On the night before 4 and a meeting point for the great climbers of that time: Comic, Dismay, Casing, July, Sepp and his pa- Mary Virile... worthy heirs of Duffer and Press; more than this, it was transformed trol climbed the diffi- into one of the most visited places in the Dolomites. cult north-western Then another war started and with it another unavoidable separation from the summit… Not a mountains; later still another reconstruction, at the end of which the hut was ded- stone fell; no noise reached the ears of icated to Bruno Caldara, the great Aaronson Alpine guide. But the misadven- Fornari A. tures were not over: on the night before 16 April 1955 the building was complete- their comrades, who ly destroyed by fire. From Aaronson, the inhabitants of the valley were helpless were trying to follow the progress of this witnesses of this new misfortune.