Pizzo Nero (& Chilchorn)

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Val Bedretto
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Pizzo Nero (& Chilchorn)

Page Type:	Mountain/Rock
Lat/Lon:	46.49250°N / 8.41124°E
Activities:	Hiking, Mountaineering, Skiing
Season:	Spring, Summer, Fall
Elevation:	9528 ft / 2904 m
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...

Autumn ... the days get shorter, the temperature lower, the first snow falls and remains ... it's time for pleasant hikes to get the summit of some "minor" mountains that a mountaneer or a rock climber would never give a glance to.

Overview

Pizzo Nero is, together with the (more) smart Pizzo Gallina, the westernmost summit of the Gotthard granite region.
So here we can find that the usually fine rock here is not so amusing to climb: the anticlinals is made by big slabs of good granite ascending to North while all around, on the other sides, you can find only loose rocks and stones.
That's why these two summits are normally climbed only along their Normal (easy) routes.

Getting There

From the highway of Gotthard, exit Airolo and follow for Val Bedretto.

To climb only the Pizzo Nero :
Follow the road of Passo della Novena (Nufenenpass) up to the last hairpin bend tower right (East),
Where the road starts pointing straight toward the pass you can find a wide plain, on the left side of the road, good for car parking.

To climb also the Chilchorn :
Park the car in the wide foreground of Nufenenpass

When

If you like to make an amusing and not tiring hike you'd better come here :

for a hike on foot : before the closure of the road (normally at the end of november)

for a ski-mountaneering trip : after the opening of the road (normally end of may) - the site is normally very well snowy till the end of June.

Normal Route to the Pizzo Nero

the starting point from the carparking

Start on foot from the park at the last hairpin bend.
Follow toward the evident ridge made by 6 towers (the last one, on the right, is the lowest but the biggest.
Once passed the lower shelfs you can see a wide saddle between the Pizzo Gallina (left) and the Pizzo Nero (right) : that is the Gonerlilücke 2740m : you must arrive there ...
warning : the wide basin that you must cross is filled by a lake that could be covered by a thin layer of ice and snow ... keep the right side to avoid it.

Once at the saddle (ruins of the old Gonerlilücke Hutte) follow the easy ridge toward right to get the last short rock band that gives access to the summit.

The more snow you find on the ridge the less effort you have to do ...
This is, of course, also the ski-mountaneering route.

along the summer path

bordering the lower basin

the ruins of Gonerlilücke Hutte

the last ridge to the summit

Route for the Pizzo Nero passing through the Chilchorn

the Chilchorn from Passo della Novena

Better do this route when snow is missing ...
From the restaurant at the Pass, cross the road (careful to the bikers :) and start following a path that points to the left side of the Chilchorn.
The path, well marked, becomes steep and leads in less than 1 hour to the summit (sequence of cairns) of the Chilchorn (2784m).
Here you can, following the cairns on the right, get the strange rocky S summit with a strange, but absolutely easy route.
From the real summit of Chilchorn follow marks along the ridge till you arrive to a fork : the left marks lead to Pizzo Gallina, the right ones, following a stone slopes, lead to the Gonerlilücke where you start climbing the ridge.