Ferrata Paolin-Piccolin

FERRATA PAOLIN - PICCOLIN 

You set off from Colmean (1274 m), a hamlet near Canale d'Agordo  and you take the old access trail n.689, that follows the bob sled slope (you can also cut through the woods; the trail starts next to the lodge and you can avoid a few turns). Following the 689 in about 1 hour and 15 minutes you get to the Giovanni Paolo I Lodge (1900 m).

From here you continue along the path that goes through the woods and becomes steep, going up towards the canyon that comes down from the Medil fork, located between the two peaks at the Auta. You come to a fork, where on the right you climb to the top on the normal route, while to the left, after a final difficult climb you come to the start of the ferrata (2280 m, about 2 hours and 30 minutes). 

The ferrata starts with stairs without cables, like the first stretch of steps that rise obliquely until you come to another stairwell. To finish this first stretch you face a difficult tract where you climb in splits, facing another two or three little walls that help scale this bastion of about 25 vertical metres. Then you climb around the base of the Western wall until you come to the pass of the Medil (2470 m, about 3 hours). You continue to the right, along a short path, that goes to the base of the top of Western Auta. You zigzag your way up the wall, where you find the last set of steps. After overcoming a few walls you get to the fork, where to the left an easy passage gives way to the descent, while to the right it is a short climb to the top, distinguished by the giant cross that marks the highest point (2624 m, about 4 hours). From here you can feast your eyes on the Marmolada, the Pale di San Martino...

To descend you go back to the fork left below. When you come to the crossroads on a green plain, cut to the right for the equipped trail Attilio Bortoli. Finally you come to the fork you left in the morning (normal path) and then you get back to the Giovanni Paolo I lodge and in a little less than an hour you are back in Colmean, from where you started.