Day1: Albigna - Cacciabella Pass - Schiora Hutte

The adventure to conquer Pizzo Badile climbing the N-NO ridge (Badilekante) starts on August 21, 2004. The original plan is to reach Albigna Lake, above val Bregaglia, and climb the Agio di Sciora on the south face (Klucker route, III+) to gain some experience of climbing in altitude and tune the feeling of the group. Even though only three of us (Giallo, Stefano and I) will be heading for the Badile, we set off in five: also Marcello and Laura are in the party.

 

Stefano with the Albigna Lake behind. Sunny spells start to show rising our spirit.

The start is not as smooth as we wanted it to be: on the one hand, despite the optimistic forecasts, saturday morning is cloudy and all the mountain top are hidden in dense fog. Worst than ever, when the fog clears out, we discover it has been snowing in the night down to about 2500-2700 m. On the other hand, we discover when we reach the Albigna Hutte, that we (I) had grossly underestimated the length of the approach to the Ago. It is now (9am) to late to set off for that climb (people that had been climbing it leave the Hutte around 4am !!).

When mist clears off, we see the Sciora group (from E) with a lot of fresh snow!!!

We decide therefore to change program and to head directly for the Sciora Hutte, where we will sleep and see the weather evolution. Weather forecasts for the following day are good, but we do not want to risk the climb with all the snow still on the mountain. To go from the Albigna valley to the Bondo valley, we must cross the Sciora ridge through the Cacciabella Pass (2887 m.), a class 4 scramble with some fixed ropes on the Bondo side.

Weather starts improving and an "arcobaleno" appears behind the Pizzo Spazzacaldera (can you see it?)

From the path to the Cacciabella Pass, we have magnificent views on the surrounding mountains and glaciers.

The Cantone glacier from the path to Cacciabella

Giallo on the path to Cacciabella, the ridge of Pizzo Balzetto behind him

Laura in the same spot

As we climb up to Cacciabella pass, weather keeps changing and, on the very pass, it starts snowing. Marcello and Laura head back to Albigna, while Giallo , Stefano and I descend quickly to the Sciora Hutte.

The descent from Cacciabella Pass to the Sciora Hutte (can you spot it in the lower left of the pic?). It may not seem from the blue sky, but it is raining!!

Day2: Sciora Hutte - Il Viale - Sasc Fura' Hutte

The following day is a positive surprise: we wake up and the sky is blue, an early sun bathing the north-east face of Pizzo Badile and Cengalo.

Pizzo Badile (right) and Pizzo Cengalo (left) bathed in the Sunday Morning sun around 8 a.m.

Our program for the day is relax. We only need to walk from the Sciora Hutte to the Sasc Fura Hutte, a 3 hours hike along a wonderful trail that wanders through the moraine at the base of the granite tower of Cengalo and Badile. We decide to set off early so we can take it easy. Every moment you feel the urge to stop and take a picture, as you can see from the number of pics I show you below.

The "Ferro da Stiro" (Iron), a wonderful slab and ridge with many hard climbs.

Giallo walking on the moraine. The river boulders are covered in verglasse and we need a diversion to cross it.

The Sciora Group in the morning shadow. We follow a party climbing the Bramani Route on the Pioda with binoculars. They are pretty breva...climbing in the shadow in a freezing morning.

A section of the path from Sciora Hutte to Sasc Fura Hutte is famous for its beauty. It's called "Il Viale" (the avenue). You can see some pictures of it below.

Stefano and Giallo scramble up the first section of "Il Viale"

Davide on the final steps of "Il Viale"

At the end of "Il Viale" we cross the approach to Pizzo badile and, since time is not pressing, we explore it

Giallo and Stefano explore the approach to the Badilekante walking on superb granite slabs

Giallo and the Sciora group

Day3: BADILEKANTE!!!!!!!!!

Monday is the day. We set off the Sasc Fura' hutte at 4 in the morning, we walk in the dark for a couple of hours and, just as dawn, we reach the base of the climb.

Davide at the base of the ridge prepares for leading the first pitch. It's much darker than it seems from the pic.

Dawn towards Engadina from the base of the ridge.

The climb is pure fun and it is impossible to describe it with words. Let's say the weather is wonderful, even though cold. The only problem is some frozen snow in a groove, that Stefano leads with a lot of caution. Her are some pics of me climbing, gently taken by Stefano.

Finally, after something arount 26 pitches, we reach the summit.

Giallo and Stefano just before the summit

Davide on the very summit, near the pyramid to commemorate Mario Molteni and Giuseppe Valsecchi, who died after the first ascent on the Cassin route on the NE face.

This is the view from tha summit, towards noth-east (say towards Engadina)

This is instead the view towards south, eastward. You can see valtellina and the Bergamo north mountains.

And finally this is a pic taken while descending to Rifugio Gianetti.  From there it is a 4 hour walk to the road, but we'll think about it tomorrow...

Page maintained by Davide Lazzati
Last updated: Nov. 18, 2004