Colle dei Larici - Forcella Cormolina

Asphalt 5% - Trails 50% - Dirt 45%; Physical condition: challenging; Technical difficulty: challenging

Cycloalpine tour with ascent on dirt road from Sella Chianzutan, non-cyclable path from the "chair" on the ridge to Colle dei Larici, partially cyclable descent to the quarry, dirt road to Casera Val and ascent with portage to Forcella Cormolina, descent on the same until intersecting CAI 806, which with challenging ground and somewhat exposed sections leads back to the valley.

Starting from the restaurant in Sella Chianzutan, descend on asphalt for a short distance to the first dirt road that climbs to the left toward the marble quarry, now almost all restored. Partly in the woods and partly open to the valley it climbs not particularly steeply to the famous chair overlooking the Verzegnis valley. From here take the path that climbs to Colle dei Larici, steep and not rideable, a long up and down between peaks partly pushing and mostly shouldering. From the summit, you descend less than half on the bike and the rest on foot because of the very hollow and rough condition of the trail.

You reach the saddle with the entrance to the marble quarry, where you take the first left along the old tracks and through a short dark tunnel to the old quarry cable car. Wonderful viewpoint towards Sella Chianzutan. Take the outward road again to the junction where you follow the dirt road downhill on the left to Casera Val, recently renovated in a magnificent natural amphitheater between Mt. Verzegnis and Lovinzola. Immediately behind, you briefly ascend on a push and shoulder trail to the Cormolina fork, from which there is a remarkable 360-degree view. You descend again on the same trail, with bottom a bit dug into the grass and a few rocks until you reach the casera, then climb in front and descend on a fairly well visible track and similar bottom, of increasing difficulty until the junction with the CAI806 trail that descends from the saddle of the quarry.

Proceed right on the same, with increasingly rough ground on earth and rock and some somewhat exposed sections, without a moment's respite. In the last section you enter the woods, but the difficulty remains medium-high, until the cart track that descends to Sella Chianzutan. A couple of quick cuts across the meadows and you reach the valley.