Ferrata of the Centenary at Resegone

Introduction:

The Ferrata del Centenario al Resegone is a moderate difficulty climbing route that climbs an impressive rocky rampart entering a long gully near the Fò Pass under the Resegone. The ferrata has abundant equipment, something quite unusual for the via ferratas of the Lecco area. The route is easily linked with other routes in the area.

Starting location:

The starting point of the itinerary is the large square from which the cableway to Piani d'Erna starts in the municipality of Barzio in the province of Lecco. Once in Lecco from the highway that connects Lecco with Ballabio and then with Valtellina, at the exit of a tunnel take the exit with clear signs for "Piani D'Erna". From there continue uphill between hairpin bends until the end of the route in the large square.

Directions for Google Maps available here.

Approach:

Parked the car we will have two alternatives to reach the start of the via ferrata:

• go up to the Piano d'Erna with the cable car and from there follow the path 5 path 5 which will run along the lower part of the Resegone for a long time. At the junction with Trail 1, we will ignore it and instead of continuing uphill towards the Azzoni Hut, we continue straight towards the Ghislandi Hut. We reach it and continue towards the Fo pass. Reached the pass s there will be indications for the nearby start of the Ferrata del Centenario (50 'from the cable car in Piani d'Erna).
• On the right side of the car park compared to the ski lifts we will notice a path that goes down. This is path 1 which we will take uphill. During the climb we ignore the junction for the Via Ferrata Gamma 1 and we continue uphill to the junction with Trail 6 which we will follow towards the Fo pass and Ghislandi Hut. Once you reach the Ghislandi Hut, continue with clear indications to the nearby Via Ferrata start (1h 30 'from the parking lot).

Via Ferrata:

The ferrata starts at the entrance of a narrow gully. Climb a vertical wall using some brackets. You go up two vertical tears for a total of about ten to fifteen meters. Continue traversing to the right with the help of foot brackets and hang up vertically entering the groove closed between high walls of beautiful limestone. We begin this section more exposed of the route. Once ended this section we follow a ledge towards right and then hang up vertically.

We leave this vertical section, not difficult but quite exposed, we arrive at an aided path that leads us to the second part of the ferrata entering a new groove. The second part of the ferrata continues fairly vertical although the rock is more lying down than the first meters. We continue uphill along the gully, initially to its right then to its left, helped by some unusual metal bars for the feet. We continue uphill alternating some walls with more simple rocks always abundantly aided with metal brackets up to exit from the narrowest part of the gully and continuing on an easier aided path. We are now in the final phase of the ferrata. We face a short series of rocks and then a short wall  supported by going out on the Pian Serrada. Go along a stretch of path, go up the last rocks and reach the end of the via ferrata (45' from the start - 1h 30' from the top station of the cable car).

Descent:

After the Centenary Ferrata, we will immediately notice the sign for the neighbor Ferrata del Caminetto (or Buco della Carlotta). The descent options are:

• If you want to end the aided trip you can climb along the obvious trail on the meadows until you intercept the path 1 which we will take to the left in the direction of Piani d'Erna. We will reach a junction with path 5. If we want to return to Piani d'Erna and get off with the cable car (1h from the end of the ferrata - 2h 45 'total) we continue on path 5 keeping to the right. If instead we want to go down to the parking lot along the path we remain on the path 1 until we reach the Rifugio Stoppani and continuing the descent to the car park (1h 45 'from the end of the via ferrata - 3h 45' total).
• You could proceed uphill on path 1 in the direction of Rifugio Azzoni and take the most challenging Via Ferrata Silvano de Franco uphill. Paying attention, it is possible to see the sign of the start of the ferrata already from the junction with Path 1 to Pian Serrata.
• Finally you could walk the Aided path of the Caminetto (or Buco della Carlotta) downhill (here a video of the descent). In this case, follow the sign as soon as the Ferrata del Centenario is finished, which leads us down from an aided couloir not difficult but with debris. From the end of the path you can return to the cable car or descend in the direction of Rifugio Stoppani and then to the parking lot (2h 15 'from the end of the ferrata 4h 15' total).

Notes:

The Ferrata del Centenario is a via ferrata that presents - compared to others in the Resegone area - high presence of brackets to support progression. The initial part is characterized by a good exposure then one enters a gully and this sensation fades. The via ferrata does not present significant technical difficulties. Attention should be paid not to move stones along the climb as the via ferrata extends making this dangerous for hikers below. Along the way the signs of the old ascent line are clearly visible, which was certainly more demanding and spartan in the use of brackets than the current one.

Opportunities:

As anticipated above, the Centenary Ferrata goes well with being combined with the ascent of the Ferrata Ernesto de Franco or with the descent via the Aided path of the Caminetto.

An interesting alternative is to go up to Piani d'Erna with the Via Ferrata Gamma 1 instead of by cable car. In this way, the first long ferrata links with that of the Centenary.

If you wanted to take a long route, even without going up to the Resegone, you could go up to the Piani d'Erna by cable car, go along the Centenary Ferrata, go down the Aided path of the Buco della Carlotta and then follow in the direction of Passo Foo and then embark on the beautiful Aided path of the Giumenta ridge. At the end of the aided path go down along the paths towards the parking lot (about 7h total).

If you decide to go up to the Resegone instead you can then go down the hill Aided path of Canalone Bobbio. In this case you need a good leg and attention to the long deadlines.

For the most skilled you could walk the Via Ferrata Gamma 2 al Resegone or la Via Ferrata of Monte Ocone on the Bergamo side of the Resegone although difficult to combine with the Ferrata del Centenario.