Pizzo di Claro is a beautiful peak in the Southern Italian speaking part of Switserland: ticino.
This region has the mountains of the alps but the warm climate of Italy! It's a beautiful place to hike and climb mountains. My favourite in this area is Pizzo di Claro. Because of the low elevation of the valley (250m) the pizzo di Claro (2727m) rises high above the valley and therefore looks really impressive from for example the city of Bellinzona nearby.
From Bellinzona the Pizzo di Claro summit looks like an impressive pyramid!

The route is not really difficult to climb,only the above part, the ''pyramid'', is a bit more difficult because of its steepness and coverage with loose stones. The trail though is marked to the top.
The only difficulty is the distance, you need a reasonable endurance level to get there! But when you reach the top, the view is really great! By good wetter you can see as far as Monte Rosa(4634m) and Dom(4545m) in the Wallis-area. In the other direction( to the east) you can see the Bernina alps and the highest point in Ticino: Rheinwaldorn.(3402m)

Getting There

You are likely to come across these mountain goats along your way!

There are several ways to climb the mountain:

1) from the west-side of the summit in the Ticino- Valley.
From the village of Claro (250m) (near camping Al Censo) leads a marked track up to Pizzo di Claro via Alpe Peurett(1750m) and Lago di Canee (2190m). Until lago di canee the trail is very easy to walk. From lago di canee to the top the trail is harder to find and a lot of hiking is neccessary! Beware of falling and slippery stones.

2) From the soude side of the mountain a cable way goes up ''Seilbahn Pizzo Di Claro'' located at the village of Lumino. From there a trail leads to capanna Brogoldone at 1910 m.
Capanna Brogoldone
From here leads a beautiful track over the ridge of the mountain from which you take the eastside route to the top.

3) Climbing from Val Calanca, the valley on the east side of the top of pizzo di claro. From Val Calanca you can get by car above the tree-level at about 2000m. This is by far the most easy way to get to the top! Also here a marked trail leads to the top.

Route 1 is the most beautiful route but also by far the most difficult, you have to overwin a height difference of 2500m from 250 m to 2727m , this is only possible ( in one day) with a very good endurance capability!
Route 2 is very beautiful because you walk on the ridge where you look down in both the ticino and the calanca valley.
Route 3 is for those who just want to enjoy the view on the top, the route isn't that beautiful.

Red Tape

Pizzo di Claro south ridge

There are no permits or summit fees!
If you take route 2: there is a parking place near the Lumino-cableway.
This parking is for free.
For the other routes: there is enough space to park your car (for free)

When To Climb

Pizzo di Claro from Val Calanca

You can climb this mountain any time a year. The best months though are mai, june, july, august and september. The other months there is a good chance of snow at the summit part what makes it more difficult to reach the top.

Camping

Camping Al censo, Claro ( for route 1) A beautiful campsite 100 m from the starting point of route 1
more info:
camping Al Censo

Huts:
For route 1: Alpe Peurett (1740m), the key for this hut is hanging on the leftside of the main door, there is no fee for the hut, but there are NO 'hosts' There are about 15 sleeping places!
For route 1 and 2: Capanna Brogoldone (1900m), During the whole season there is a women who hosts the hut, For a small amount of moneu you can stay the night and enjoy a good meal cooked by the host. Also beautiful is the view at night towards Bellinzona, capital of the ticino-area

Mountain Conditions

this link leads to a webcam renewed every hour with a view on pizzo di Claro from the city of Bellinzona,Ticino:
webcam pizzo di claro
(choose 'Bellinzona' by 'webcams' on the left side)

this link leads to the wetter in the pizzo di claro area:
wetter pizzo area
(click on 'meteo')

Images



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