Monte Peralba

The name tells the colour: Peralba means ‘white stone’, and white is also in the German Hochweißstein; in the Sappada dialect it is Jochkouvl, the mountain of the pass. The rock is Devonian reef limestone, far older than the mountains seen from the village, all of them Triassic: calling it ‘dolomitic’ is incorrect, even if the colour is misleading.

The summit stands on the boundary between Sappada and Santo Stefano di Cadore, that is between Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto, a stone's throw from Austria. At its foot, in the upper Val Sesis, the Piave rises.

This is what surprises newcomers: from the village, the highest mountain of Sappada is not there. It stands a few kilometres to the north, behind the ridge that rises directly above the houses between Monte Ferro and Monte della Piana, and those nearby slopes hide it completely. The calculation on the terrain model gives it in view only from Cima Sappada, where Val Sesis opens a gap to the north, and only just: a few tens of metres of the summit remain clear. There a photograph taken on the spot decides, not a calculation.

To see it properly you climb: to Rifugio Monte Siera, on the Pian dei Larici, or to the Passo del Mulo, above the Olbe lakes. Or you go into Val Sesis.

The base is Rifugio Calvi, owned by the Sappada section of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) and opened on 26 September 1926: it is reached on foot only, an hour from the upper Val Sesis car park. From the hut the normal route, named after John Paul II, who walked it in July 1988, climbs by way of the Passo Sesis in a couple of hours. The Sappada CAI describes it as a climb of limited difficulty; the path register of the Veneto Region grades the final section for experienced hikers (EE). With hard snow or verglas it becomes a serious climb.

The west route starts from the source of the Piave: longer, with wider views. The Ferrata Sartor is a different matter: it is graded for experienced hikers with equipment and, when busy, is exposed to rockfall. The hut calls it ‘easy’, the Sappada CAI ‘of medium difficulty’: for those who are not practised, the stricter assessment applies.

The first recorded ascent dates from 1854, for a topographical survey. In the Great War these ridges were the front line: between the fort of Casera Vecchia and the hut the equipped path cut in those years still runs, and from the Calvi the positions can be made out. Today the hut is a stage on the Traversata Carnica, the Carnic traverse.