The Kaiserjäger positions on the Lagazuoi

​ The Lagazuoi is a two-peaked mountain in the Fanes group of the Dolomites. The Great Lagazuoi is 2835 m high, the Little Lagazuoi 2778 m. The latter is accessible by a cable car . The two peaks are in the Italian province of Belluno a few hundred meters south of the South Tyrolean border.

During the First World War, the Lagazuoi was a hotly contested mountain, as it was exactly on the front line where the Austrian Kaiserjäger and Italian Alpini fought a merciless trench warfare.

In order to avoid enemy artillery fire, both armies began to build tunnel systems in the rock walls and thus relocated both positions and supply rooms into the interior of the mountain. The Kaiserjäger holed up on the summit and the Italians tried to conquer the mountain from the south. Later, mine tunnels were drilled into the mountain by the Italians and Austrians and entire ledges of rock were blasted off in order to destroy the opposing positions. The light cones of debris on the Little Lagazuoi are the cause of the mine blasts between 1915 and 1917.

You have several options to explore the mountain. From Alta Badia it goes towards Cortina on the Falzarego pass. Here you can either take the cable car in 5 minutes or you can walk up the mountain for about 2.5 hours. The tunnel offers adventure seekers a change from the normal route. The two winding tunnels, some of which contain war exhibits, should only be entered with appropriate equipment (head or torch, helmet). At the end of the tunnel, a ridge leads to the cable car mountain station, the access of which requires a head for heights. Another variant is the Kaiserjäger-Steig, an easy via ferrata. You keep to the northwest of the pass, where you can examine some war positions and you get to the entrance via a zigzag path. There is a suspension bridge right at the beginning of the climb.

Since we were there at the end of May there was still snow in many places, so we took the cable car up. The view was breathtaking. 360 degree view! In the north you can see the peaks of the Fanes group, especially the Fanesspitzen, in the east all three peaks of the Tofana, the Sorapiss group, in the south the Cinque Torri, Monte Pelmo, Civetta and Marmolata and in the west the Sella group and the Puez group. As I knew the area around the Sella Group and Marmolada from skiing, these views were particularly beautiful.

The entrance to the caverns and the descent were also blocked by remains of snow, so we went back down with the cable car . All in all, however, a worthwhile excursion.

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