OverviewThe Grivola, which was first climbed in 1859 by Ormsby, Bruce, Dayané, Cachat and Tairraz, is without a doubt one of the most exciting mountains in the entire Alps. This almost "perfect" white pyramid stands high above the entrance of two important valleys, the Val Savarenche and the Vallon di Cogne. Thanks to this fact the mountain is, in contrast to its higher neighbour Gran Paradiso, visible from a lot of angles in the Aosta Valley. In fact this mountain doesn't need to hide (nor does Grand Paradiso!!!), and so it is only right that they called this beautiful summit "Grivola" which means "young lady". And it's here where this mountain shares a common feature with another impressive peak of the Alps, the famous Jungfrau in the Bernese Alps. As already mentioned the Grivola stands between two valleys, on the one hand (west) we have the, thanks to Gran Paradiso, well known Val Savarenche and on the other hand (east) we have the less famous Vallon di Cogne which continues in the Valnontey. Cogne, the capital of the valleys east of Grivola is a very nice and peaceful little town. One of Cogne's major attractions, besides the mountains, is the "Giardino Alpino Paradisia" where you can find 1500 different species of alpine flowers from all over the world. The Valnontey is surrounded by a lot of hardly known summits, which are of an indescribable wild beauty. Here you are in one of the Alps most savage and original areas. The major peaks which surround this lonely and deserted valley are Gran Paradiso and Herbetet (3778 m) with the huge Tribolazione glacier, the Testa della Tribolazione (3642 m), the Becca di Gay (3621 m) and the Roccia Viva (3650 m) at the head of the valley. The most important mountains on the left side (east) of the valley are Torre del Gran San Pietro (3692 m) and Punta Patri (3581 m). On the way to these summits there are no huts, only bivouacs, and none of the ascents are easy. Also the normal routes offer techincal difficulties. In the case of the Grivola there is a hut, the Rifugio Vittorio Sella, but the not easy ascent requires high attention because of the often fragile rock in the southeast wall. The severity of these mountains is another reason why up here you'll only meet serious climbers and those who love the silence far away from all the trouble. Here it really is a Gran Paradiso.
The extremely broken W face made (until mid-XX° century) some geologist think that the Grivola may have been once a slightly higher mountain who underwent a massive rockfall - thus being a "lost" 4000m. This theory is now considered improbable.
by signorelli (grazie)
Getting ThereLeave the Highway at "Aosta Ovest" (West), drive through Aymavilles and continue to follow the main street until you arrive in Cogne.
HOW TO REACH AOSTA:
- from Italy: Milan - Novara - Ivrea - Pont-Saint-Martin - Saint Vincent - Aosta
or: Turin - Ivrea - Aosta
- from Switzerland: Bern - Montreux - Martigny - Colle del Gran San Bernardo - Aosta
or: Sion - Martigny - Col du Grand Saint Bernard - Aosta
or: Bellinzona - Lugano - Como - Milano (only direction) - Novara - Aosta
- from France (also Genève): Tunnel del Monte Bianco (toll) - Courmayeur - Aosta
or (less expensive but a little longer, if you come from Genève take the tunnel!): Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo - La Thuile - Pre-Saint-Didier - Aosta
- from Austria: Brennero - Trento - Verona (only direction) - Brescia - Bergamo - Milan - Aosta
HOW TO REACH THE SUMMIT:
Normal route (via Col Lauson (3296 m):
Climb in direction of Col Lauson and descent to Rifugio Vittorio Sella. This is really necessary, because it's a long trip, and Col Lauson itself is still far from the top! From Rifugio Vittorio Sella head towards Ghiacciaio de la Rousse. Go west, climb to Col de la Noire (3491 m). Descend the glacier for a while to avoid the enormous gaps. Climb west again, until you see a stonewall. There is a passage to the south (Colle della Grivola 3738 m). Then head for the summit, 230 meters higher, with gaps of about 600 meters to the west, and 300 meters to the east.
Red TapeUNDER DEVELOPMENT
No permits required. No fees, no seasonal closures although the cabins are closed from October till April/May (of course not the bivaks). There are rules about wildlife conservation, for it is a NP. No parking pass required.
When To ClimbUNDER DEVELOPMENT
From June till september, though snow is ALWAYS possible. We had snow, about 20 cm/8inch. Early August. Snowlevel was appr. 3400 meter.
CampingWild camping in the Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso is strictly forbidden!
On cogne.org you will find all informations about camping sites and hotels in the area.
Just for example:
Camping lo Stambecco
Hotel Bellevue
Hotel Sant'Orso and Hotel Grand Paradis
Huts and bivouacs:
Rifugio Vittorio Sella (2584 m):
Conca di Lauson (Cogne)
Tel.: 0039/0165/74310
eMail: info@rifugiosella.com
Rifugio Federico Chabod (2750 m):
Côte Savolère di Montandayné (Valsavarenche)
Tel.: 0039/0165/95574
eMail: info@rifugiochabod.com
Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele II (2732 m):
Moncorvè (Valsavarenche)
Tel.: 0039/0165/95920
eMail: segreteria@caitorino.it
Bivacco Mario Gontier (2309 m)
Alpe Gran Nomenon
Bivacco Mario Balzola (3477 m)
Col des Clochettes
Bivacco Luciano Gratton (3198 m)
Col Pousset
Mountain ConditionsEsprit Montagne
weather conditions: Bollettino meteorologico VdA
weather conditions: meteo.it
Parco Nazionale del Gran Paradiso
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