Haunold Ostgipfel - Rocca dei Baranci Cima Est
Peak · 2907 m · Dolomites
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Pale, jagged rock breaks the skyline straight above San Candido, and Cima Est is the easternmost of the massif's four tops at 2,907 m. In winter, ski runs stripe the open north flank below it.
The Pustertal legend behind the mountain's name is specific: an infant orphaned when Huns killed his father grew into a giant on the water of a magic spring in the Villgratental. When Duke Tassilo called on him to help drive the Huns from nearby Burg Heinfels, the giant met and defeated the Hun leader at the confluence of the Sextner Bach and the Drau, tore out one of his ribs, then returned to the mountain and fell asleep inside it. The massif has four summits: a main peak at 2,966 m, a west top at 2,933 m, an east top, Cima Est, at 2,907 m, and a south spur at 2,860 m. The mountain's real name is older and plainer: documented from 1514, it traces to Hunold, a medieval landowner, with a later variant spelling folded into the giant story through its resemblance to the German word for demon, Unhold. The massif sits between the Sexten valley and the Val Pusteria, inside the Tre Cime nature park. Its main summit was first climbed on 28 July 1878 by J. Oberschneider, from the north.
What you see
Pale, jagged summits break the skyline directly above San Candido, the massif's open north flank striped with ski runs in winter.
Practical
A hiking route from the Tre Scarperi hut reaches the main summit in around four and a half hours, with a short stretch of easy scrambling near the top.
dolomitessummitfolklorealpine hike