Sas de Stria
Peak · 2477 m · Dolomites
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Sas de Stria, the "Witch's Rock" in Ladin, rises over Passo Falzarego between Lagazuoi and Col di Lana. Austrian troops tunnelled through the peak during the First World War, connecting Valparola to summit positions with a 500-metre gallery cut by Commander Goiginger. Restored trenches and tunnels now form part of the Cortina Open-Air Museum of the Great War, reachable on a marked trail from the pass.
Italian Alpini seized the summit in a daring assault within days of Italy entering the war in 1915, then were forced back before Austro-Hungarian troops dug in for good. Commander Goiginger's engineers hid two 80mm guns inside the mine gallery, nicknamed Max and Moritz and hauled up from the dismantled Tre Sassi Fort, trained on the Italian line at the Martini Ledge below. The stronghold held for the rest of the war, guarding the route into the Badia and Puster valleys against an Italian breakthrough. The Ladin name, meaning Rock of the Witch, comes from older tales of witches said to haunt the grassy slopes below the summit.
What you see
A horn-shaped tooth of rock drops in sheer walls to the Falzarego saddle, its sharp south ridge often framing photographs taken at the pass chapel below.
Practical
The Sottotenente Fusetti via ferrata, opened in 2018, climbs through the Goiginger tunnel and is best attempted from June to October.
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