Tuši's blog: 15424

Sunday, August 08, 2021

15424

Italy: Lagazuoi Piccolo

The weather forecast was good only till around noon, so we chose a simple destination for our hike, Lagazuoi Piccolo, 2778 m. Mount Lagazuoi is a veritable "castle of rock", with spires and turrets, and with military bases hidden in its bowels. During the Great War the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies dug shelters in its interior for men and arms, transforming it into an impenetrable 20th century fortress. Like in 2013 (12511), we decided to explore it.

Entering the cave system of the mountain.

View to Averau, 2649 m.

Back to the open air, but not for long.

Headlamps are a must.

Exploring the Martini ledge. On 20th October 1915, an Alpini troop unit occupied the ledge halfway up the rock face of the Piccolo Lagazuoi, a wide rocky step which crosses the mountain and was surprisingly ignored by the Austrians. The Martini Ledge, named after the battalion commander who occupied it, soon became a thorn in the eye of the Austrians. From there the Italians could hit scot-free the Vonbank emplacement with machine guns and grenades.

The detailed plans of all the Lagazuoi galleries remained after the retreat of the Italian army in November 1917.

Through the Anticima-Tunnel we reached the top of the mountain.

The easiest way to the top is via cable car.

Our starting point was Falzarego Pass, 2105 m.

Tuši, Čera, Sandi and Janez on top of Lagazuoi Piccolo.

For the descent we used the Kaiserjäger path.

During World War 1 the Kaiserjäger path was the communication way of the Austrian soldiers between the bottom of the valley and the high emplacements on Lagazuoi and was used to supply food, munitions, and war equipment.