| nejcf4. 08. 2023 11:23:25 |
Monte Viso-Normal Route
Last week, my friend Vid, his brother Maks, and I conquered this giant in western Piedmont. After a tiring drive across the Po Plain, we finally reached the Po river valley and parked at the Pian del Re parking lot at 2020m. The road is quite narrow and tolled for the last few kilometers, the price is 10 euros per day. Already from the parking lot we had nice views around, with the pointed Monviso to the south.
In five minutes we reached the source of the Po river, where the path started climbing in switchbacks towards Lake Fiorenza. Higher up we made a wide loop around Lake Chiaretto under the north cliffs of Viso, where rumbling of rocks could be heard all the time. This was followed by a rocky ascent to Colle del Viso (2650m), from where it was just a few minutes' walk to our accommodation, Rifugio Quintino Sella. Before dinner we climbed the nearby 3019m high Viso Mozzo, which is also an excellent viewpoint.
Despite there being a huge crowd in the hut, only 14 of us set off for Monviso. We all got up a bit after three, ate the prepared breakfast and started the ascent. The first goal was the Colle delle Sagnette pass (2991m). The path to it first crossed scree fields, then climbed up rocks along a chain. The chain isn't well tensioned, so the descent there was quite annoying. At the pass dawn was breaking and we could see the still very distant summit. We had to descend good 100m, then we started climbing again through the very broken terrain of the upper Forciolline valley. We bypassed the snowfields in the valley head on a scree path on the right and soon reached the Andreotti bivouac (3225m). The summit was still over 600m higher in elevation difference of scrambling on rocks, we also had to cross 4 snowfields, but crampons were no longer needed. The path here is densely marked with yellow arrows, so no orientation problem going up, but coming down you can easily get lost, especially if it's your first time here. Just upon our arrival at the summit the clouds and mists cleared and we had probably the best views that day. Only towards Mont Blanc was the visibility not the best due to clouds. Due to wind on the summit we didn't stay very long and stopped at the hut again on the way down. At the starting point, despite altitude over 2000, a swarm of mosquitoes attacked me. Our next goal was Sestriere, where we had plans for some more three-thousanders.
I especially have to praise the Q. Sella hut. For 45 euros you get accommodation, dinner (2 courses and dessert+coffee/tea), breakfast and even sandwiches for the road. The caretaking team is also very friendly and competent.
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