Passo Valles
Pass · 2032 m · Dolomites
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Passo Valles tops out at 2,032 meters, linking Falcade with Passo Rolle and the roads to Predazzo and Passo San Pellegrino. It marks the boundary between Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige, once the border between Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy. The summit view opens onto the Marmolada, Civetta and Pale di San Martino. The paved climb from Falcade runs 23 kilometers averaging 8.7%, with pitches to 14%.
Felice Gimondi, the rider nicknamed Nuvola Rossa by the journalist Gianni Brera, is remembered for a fast descent from Valles down into Falcade during one of his Giro d'Italia rides. The small church at the pass began as the chapel of the military cemetery at Paneveggio; dismantled after the war, it was rebuilt on its current site in 1948, over a building dating to 1914. In winter the pass lies along a cross-country ski route known locally as the Lovers' Track. The road has carried the Giro d'Italia across it seven times since its first crossing in 1963, most recently in 2003.
Practical
The Rifugio Capanna Passo Valles, at the summit, has served mountain cooking, cheese, mushrooms and game, since 1933 under the same Cemin family, with rooms if you want to stay the night.
giro ditaliacima coppimountain passski route