Pale di San Lucano, Mountain subgroup in Belluno Province, Italy.
Pale di San Lucano is a small Dolomite group in Belluno Province, separated from the Pale di San Martino by the deep San Lucano Valley. Its highest summit is Monte San Lucano at 2406 m, and the Terza Pala drops 1400 m directly above the valley. The group is bounded by the Cordevole valley to the east and connected to Cima Pape via Forcella Gardès.
Exploration of this mountain range intensified during the 1930s when climbers completed significant first ascents in the area. This period marked the beginning of modern mountaineering activity on these peaks.
The name comes from Saint Lucanus, a hermit who withdrew into the valley in the 5th century AD. On the northern slopes, casere (shepherd huts) recall the time when the Pale were the domain of chamois hunters and herders rather than climbers.
The only marked route through the group is trail no. 765, the Sentiero della Besausega, a steep and exposed path; a few unmarked trails also cross the slopes. The Bivacco Bedin on Prima Pala is the sole shelter, and Prima Pala itself can be reached over pathless but easy ground. The other summits require climbing routes of varying difficulty.
The 1908 collapse of a secondary summit called the Pizzet sent a landslide down onto the villages of Prà and Lagunàz, burying both. The scar lies on the ridge running south from Forcella Gardès, on the peak also known as Cime di Van del Pèz or Quarta Pala.
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