Becco di Mezzodì
Wherever you look at it, the Becco di Mezzodì (Bèco de Mesodì or Bec de Mesdì in Ladin) stands elegant and solitary. A sort of sentry that controls the valley of Cortina d’Ampezzo…
The most “known” profile is the one mirrored on Lake Federa but remains fascinating and spectacular seen from all directions from the Cortina Valley or from the Mondeval pastures
The summit (2,603 m) was conquered for the first time on July 5, 1872 by W. E. Utterson Kelso and Santo Siorpaes, a mountain guide from Cortina. The name derives from the use of the inhabitants of Cortina as a sundial, from Cortina in fact the sun at midday is located exactly above its top.
Throughout the quarantine the Becco was the one, immobile, to be desired… Every morning by opening the windows of the house it let itself be admired in all its splendor… between a squat, a push up and a traction its ever present figure did not make me stop dreaming…
It is a rather small mountain, if compared to other mountains in the Dolomites but its isolation makes it something unique and so the desire to climb it in these two months has grown exponentially.
I have lived with Sara in Cortina for three years now and for three years I have admired this little monolith every day and finally in these first days of semi-freedom I had the opportunity to climb it
There are mainly four ways to reach it: from Ru Curto or from Campo to the Palmieri refuge, from Passo Giau passing the fork of the same name and Lake Baste, from Selva di Cadore to Mondeval and finally from Città di Fiume refuge
Given the presence of a lot of snow above 2000 meters, we opted for a complete skiing/climbing adventure.
We then started with the skins from the classic hairpin bend below Malga Giau, we climbed the homonymous Forcella descending from the other side on the wonderful Mondeval pastures to then go up towards the Ambrizzola fork and up the canal that leads to the attack of the normal route.
The normal route is short and easy (with 2 slightly more delicate passages of grade IV) but beautiful and satisfying and the summit with its unique 360 ° panorama is truly something unique that is definitely worth a visit.
Among other things, given the low attendance, it could very well be a nice proposal for this summer as “social distancing” will (unfortunately) be the keyword to follow…
The abseil down the ascent route goes fast and puts on your ski boots again is almost a pleasure. A few nice turns accompanied by the ubiquitous gaze of the Pelmo and then up again (with the skins) to the Giau fork to ski then to the car
I leave you below the photos that surely make even more the idea of this perfect day with Sara in the mountains at home…
