Our favorite hikes:

THE LINO PEDERIVA CLIMB ABOVE ALBA

From Alba to the Ciampac

Starting from the parking lot of the Ciampac cable car in Alba di Canazei, follow trail no. 602 in the direction of "Contrin". From the "Locia de Contrin" hut, walk through the beautiful Contrin valley, past the Cianci hut to the well-known Contrin hut (2020 m above sea level, 90 minutes' walk from the starting point), then take trail no. 608 uphill towards Passo San Nicolò. You have a wonderful view towards the Sassolungo, especially of the peaks of the Marmolada: Piccolo Vernel, Gran Vernel, Penia and Ombretta peaks. The pyramid-shaped Col Ombert, below which the Rifugio Passo San Nicolò (2,348 m) is located, is in the opposite direction.The following section of the trail is a little more challenging, but offers more stunning views. The "Sentiero attrezzato Lino Pederiva" (no. 613) is a paved panoramic trail above the Nikolaus Valley, which first leads to the rocks of Varos and then past the southern side of the Sass Bianch, Sas de Roces and Roseal walls. Before reaching the "Sella di Brunech" pass, the Ciampac alpine valley opens up, through which we descend. From Ciampac we take the cable car back to Alba. 6 hours, very demanding!

ROCK LABYRINTH ON THE LATEMAR

At the Karer Pass at the Hotel Antermont, we follow the signposts no. 21 and 17 on the right under the Latemar. First on a wide forest path, then following trail no. 13 through the forest, we reach the first signposts to the "Labyrinth" (no. 20). The forest ends abruptly, and it lies before us directly beneath the mighty walls of the Latemar. The labyrinth is a lunar landscape consisting of rubble and boulders that must have fallen down from the Latemar over the course of time. And where should a path lead here? If you pay attention to the red and white markings, you will easily find it. You don't really have to climb here, but you do have to go through rock tunnels and over steps carved into the rock. At the end of the labyrinth, continue through the forest to the Mitterleger, an alpine hut. From there, we follow trail marker 21 (Perlenweg) towards the Karerpass, which leads through the beautiful spruce forests. An easy trail, perhaps less exciting than the labyrinth, but if you keep your eyes open and pay attention to the flora and fauna of the forest, you can still discover all sorts of things here! Starting point: Karerpass (pass summit) Hotel Antermont Trail length: 9 km Markings: 21, 17, 13, 13A, labyrinth, 20, Perlenweg, 21 Difference in altitude: 430 m Altitude: 1755 to 1910 m above sea level Walking time: 2.5 hours.

THE WHITE HORN

Approach: Wieslhof, Gummer, Birchabruck, Eggen, in the direction of Obereggen, Lavazejoch and on to Jochgrimm. The starting point of our easy summit hike is the Jochgrimm, the mountain saddle between the Schwarzhorn and Weißhorn. We start from the parking lot in a right-hand direction following the "H" markings over meadow slopes and later over mountain pine forest up to the rocky summit, which breaks off towards the west into a mighty canyon. For the way back, we can take the same high-level trail. Sure-footed hikers with a head for heights can return via trail no. 5 heading north. At the crossroads, we take path "H" southwards and hike across meadows and mountain pines back to the starting point. Refreshment stop: Gurndinalm, the path to this branches off to the right in the mountain pine forest and the Strauben are highly recommended.

THE "STOANER MANDLEN"

We walk from Bolzano to San Genesio, continue to Lasa, at the crossroads follow the signs to "Jenesier Jöchl" on the right, then to Campidell and park the car at the new paid parking lot. Then we hike to Jenesierjöchl, follow the forest path in the direction of "Putzerkreuz", at a crossroads we keep left and take the steep path (marker 5) and hike on to the end of the forest path. Turn left again and continue to a forest crossroads where you will find several signs and follow the Stoaner Mandlen markings. The path leads us to a wooden fence, which we climb over. We then continue parallel to this fence over the Kaserböden in the direction of Stoanerne Mandln. At the Kaserböden we can already see the first stone figures, but we still have to pass through a small valley (another 15 minutes to the real Stoaner Mandln) and then arrive at the summit cross at the Stoanerne Mandln after around 1.5 hours. Court records from the early 1540s state that witches' dances and devil's parties were held between the stone statues by the wizard Manz (as grandpa always told us, who always brewed up terrible thunderstorms). Whether you want to believe this is up to you. In any case, the Mandln are a truly magical place that you have to see at any time of year. Now the Mandln are particularly beautiful with the alpine roses in bloom!