"The Becca": Curiosities and Strangenesses /A

Do not be fooled. When in the late Autumn you see who is hiding in the clouds, or in the beginning of Winter spreads with so as white talcum powder that seems to fall asleep in a long-dormant and harmless. It hides the viper in his greenish-gray rocks, lower altitude chamoises looking sweeter prairies, but not for "Madame The Becca". Remains silent to observe the unpunished Steinbocks, with centuries-old royal horns, coming from the steep ridges of the Emilius coming to graze on his most sweet and grassy slopes abandoning rugged walls, a safe haven in the Summer just past. It was so even in that now distant October 12th, 2000, when a leaden sky, below and behind which was hidden Becca, had begun to spill water as with howls. Until Sunday, when around 9,30 am the bad Giant had trembled downloading all of his anger over the entire and long Dard Gorge. "In bottom right a very wide fracture like a letterboxed which will originate the huge landslide", by SalValThe small Bridge Rongachet almost a wooden footbridge, acting as a cap, had resisted for a short time and then endured the terrible violence had erupted in a mad rush into the funnel that the walloon offered him. Skipping "over the waterfall Chenaux was launched on the water intake, as a springboard, coming over the Chenaux Village and blowing up the same not for thrust but for compression, as well as flooding the neighbors of Saint Bénin and Chenières down to the Chief Town. Then had widened the expanding in all sides its waters mixed with rock and trees in the guise of Niagara Falls. Seven dead, including a child. entire Valley was flooded and also Becca had done his part. Then Monday, October 16th, as "for Magic", gradually began to rain no more, and the waters gradually receded, defeating the worst. Guilty, only on Tuesday had showed itself up again. Glowing and shining in the warm autumn sunshine, as if nothing had happened. But the forest at his feet, on the side of the rocky promontory of Morion, was being wound with a deep channel that even sharped, sharper razor could not do. A perfect cut of 800 meters, depth of about 25-30 metres, towards Dard Walloon up to neighbor of Ponteilles Alpage. But how much time is needed to Mother Nature to shape a canyon of similar length, for example to be better understood, the Gervasutti Couloir Mont Blanc de Tacul or this of the North Face Aiguille Verte? Surely many thousands of years. But here everything is done with lightning speed. A moment of a few seconds ... "A Tragic landslide of Inundation 2000 cut as a razor tremendous for 800 metres the forest", by emiliusNon fatevi ingannar. Quando nel tardo Autunno la vedete nascondersi tra le nubi, oppure in inizio d'Inverno si sparge con polvere di bianco borotalco sembra s'addormenti in un lungo ed innocuo letargo. Si nasconde la vipera tra le sue grigio-verdastro pietraie, si abbassa d'altitudine il camoscio cercando più dolci praterie, ma Lei no. Rimane silenziosa ad osservare gli impuniti Stambecchi, dalle centenarie corna reali, che arrivan dalle ripide creste dell'Emilius venendo a pascolare sui suoi più abbordabili e prativi declivi abbandonando aspre pareti, rifugio sicuro nell'appena passata Estate. Era così anche in quel ormai lontano 12 d'Ottobre del 2000, quando un cielo plumbeo, sotto e dietro il quale s'era nascosta la Becca, aveva iniziato a rovesciare acqua come con le catinelle. Fino alla Domenica, quando verso le ore 9,30 il terribile Gigante aveva tremato scaricando tutta la sua rabbia sopra la Cascata e l'Alpe di Ponteilles, invadendo poi la lunga Gorgia del Dard discendente qual imbuto sempre più ristretto sin sopra i piccoli Villaggi di Saint Bénin, Chenaux e Chenières sul fondovalle presso Pollein. Poi tutto s'era espanso a mezza Pian Felina ed infine aveva deciso di scaricare tutta la sua "rabbia" nella Dora Baltea. Il minuscolo Ponte di Rongachet quasi una passerella in legno, facendo da tappo, aveva appena resistito a quella tremenda violenza poi era esploso in una corsa folle dentro l'imbuto che il vallone gli offriva. Saltando a piè pari" sopra la Cascata di Chenaux s'era slanciato sulla presa dell'acqua, come in un trampolino, arrivando sopra il Villaggio facendolo esplodere non per spinta ma per compressione. Poi s'era allargato al di sotto espandendo le sue acque frammiste a roccia ed alberi a guisa delle Cascate del Niagara. Sette i morti, compreso un bambino. Tutta la Valle era inondata e pur la Becca aveva effettuato sua parte. Colpevole, soltanto il martedì s'era nuovamente fatta vedere. Raggiante d'un caldo sol autunnale. La foresta ai suoi piedi, a lato del promontorio del Morion, era stata ferita con un profondo canalone che neppur il più tagliente rasoio poteva incidere. Perfetto per 800 metri e dai 25 ai 30 di profondità. Ma quanto tempo é necessitato a Madre Natura per modellare un canalone di simil lunghezza come, per meglio capirsi, il Couloir Gervasutti al Mont Blanc de Tacul o all'Aiguille Verte? Sicuramente migliaia d'anni. Qui invece tutto s'é svolto repentineamente, fulmineo. Un attimo di qualche secondo ... "A giant wind has violenty toppled the Becca", by OswBut it was not the first time that this lady was the tantrums downloading at the bottom of his furious anger. The ancient documents of the Municipality of Pollein, as well as archives of the Church, listed a series of disasters with a micro cycle that oscillates between 40 and 50 years; the last time that happened was similar in June 14th, 1957, when the river had gone out of his bed, at that time, however, the same was completely devoid of embankment. Another had occurred at the beginning of the past century (1907 or 1908 if I remember correctly) and was brought down almost all the bridges on Baltea (except the oldest ones built in the '800 and prior including those of the Romans) to the City of Ivrea, due to the failure of the Rutor Lake, about 115 miles away from the place of beginning of the accident with nearly 40 deaths. And prior to mid-1800, confirming the repeatability fifty years. While in an old book of the Valley of Aosta is said that in the year 1000 had been wiped out the entire country (then further West and just below the Becca, while today was rebuilt more downward toward the East) and the vertex of the bell tower had been found in the Dora Baltea, more than about a mile away. But even in centuries gone by the pace of events has maintained the same constant, only that the men were not aware of happened, or living more in tune with Nature, they did not give particular importance to the succession of the same. It was only purely natural elements and with these it was necessary to know how to live together: in Good and Evil. Rule was generally accepted by all and shared, even at the fact that there were no great alternatives. Take it or leave it. This time only in Chenaux we had 7 dead, while in the Valley have been 14 dead and 6 missing and finally 17. Incidentally the promontory that exists downstream have not built the trucks carrying the material, but it is a large alluvial fans that is formed over the millennia "heaping" landslides that come from the North Slope Becca. An Old Lady has quite sprightly, lively, that over time he began to suffer from some ailment and a little arthrosis. Because it seems that there are also macrocycles and thus we must again be more wary of this a little sclerotic Madam twice and maybe more ... "By now, even Madonna trembled and prayed", by Osw