Croda del Pomagagnon
Peak · 2450 m · Dolomites
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Croda del Pomagagnon rises 1,200 metres straight above Cortina d'Ampezzo, the southernmost peak of the Cristallo group and part of the Ampezzo Dolomites Natural Park. Its south face has shed large rockfalls twice in recent memory, in 2005 and again in 2016, when boulders were stopped by pine trees at the base of the mountain. The Terza Cengia via ferrata traces a long, exposed ledge beneath those southern slopes.
Antonio Dimai, a Cortina guide, made the first ascent in 1899 with his British clients Phillimore and Raynor. Two years later he returned with A. Verzi and J. Hrath to open Via Dimai on Punta Fiames, the group's western outlier, a 500-metre grade-IV line still climbed as one of the classic routes above the town. The ferrata route across the south face ends at Punta Erbing, where the ridge opens in one sweep onto Sorapis, Croda da Lago, the Tofane, Pelmo and Cristallo. Punta Fiames alone carries several more recognized lines, among them the exposed southeast arete Spigolo Jori and an easier regular route to the summit.
What you see
A broken chain of grey rock towers steps west to east above the town, split by gaps between named summits from Punta Fiames to Punta Erbing.
Practical
The Terza Cengia via ferrata is graded an easy A/B but runs long and exposed, with about an hour and a quarter to reach it and a further two hours and a quarter to descend, over roughly 1.1 kilometres of ledge.
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