Route Climbed: Rif. Margaroli - Rif. Claudio e Bruno - Blinnenhorn - Cap. Corno Gries Date Climbed: march 2017
Quite straightforward climb via Passo del Vannino and Gran Sella del Gries. Nice summit which I had been waiting for for more than 10 years.
Descent via left branch of the Gries glacier (no crevasses) to the Griessee. Due to the low water / ice level the path to the Passo del Corno was blocked by some steep, avalanche prone slopes. We finally climbed the left bank of the Griessee just below the dam, traversed the dam and climbed the ridge between the wind mills to the Passo del Corno.
Charming hut is the Capanna Corno Gries. Warm welcome.
andrea.it - May 13, 2014 7:35 am Date Climbed: May 10, 2014
Ski route
Very nice ski route from Lago di Morasco
rgg - Jun 27, 2013 12:26 pm Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2013
I made a few mistakes today...
A very nice day for climbing, but my first mistake was that I didn't start earlier.
I left from the dam at Lago del Sabbione at 8. Normally, at this time of the year there is no snow on the slopes before getting to the glacier, but this year is not normal.
I had to put on my crampons soon after I started climbing. However, because I had started late, the top layer of the snow soon got soft and I only managed to ascend at a measly rate of 200m per hour. The trails were invisible, so I made my own way up the slopes towards Rifugio 3 A, and turned west from there - strangely enough, there was a rocky ridge free of snow I could follow for a few hundred meters before going on what I thought was the glacier - but from a recent aerial photo, there is almost no ice left, so it was just a snow field.
Shortly after that, I got to a point just over 3000m, due west of Rifugio 3A, where I wasn't sure about the route. My map (1:50 000, "Domodossola e Val Formazza", Instituto Geographico Centrale) showed the Passo dei Camosci, 3150m at that point, but according to the map contours it was just above 3000m. I concluded that the map might be wrong. In fact, looking at the contours again right now, and remembering what I saw, the map is badly lacking, but it's more a matter of scale than anything else. On a much more detailed Swiss map, the Passo dei Camosci is indeed not far from where I was, a few hundred metes to the NW, and at 3161m.
Anyway, while I saw that I could go up the steep snowy slope towards the NW, from my map I couldn't see that I could go anywhere once I got to the top, so I didn't want to take that route. Alternatively, I could easily continue towards the west, and then turn NW after several hundred meters, towards the Rothornpass, ca 3130m. However, this option would mean I would first lose what I estimate to be at least 100m of altitude, which I had worked so hard for. So, instead I chose to do a gently rising traverse on steep slopes along the shortest possible route, roughly heading NNW, keeping a rocky ridge to my right hand side. The terrain was covered in show, otherwise I don't know if this route would have been possible, but even with snow I wouldn't recommend repeating this route. Falling on this traverse could be dangerous. The slope is steep, and if you fall and don't self arrest quickly, it's the luck of the draw if you hit some rocks on the way down before the gradient eases enough to make stopping easier. But since the top layer of the snow was soft, I figured I would indeed be able so self arrest quickly should I have to. Carefully I made my way to the Rothornpass, and from there it was easy going to the summit.
On the way down, I took a somewhat longer but much safer route: first I followed the SE ridge for a while, until I came to a not too steep snow covered ramp towards the SW. In fact, there were several such ramps to choose from. They all lead to easy snowy slopes, on which I could easily descend to the SE, and Rifugio Claudio e Bruno. Had I known about this route, I would have preferred this over the ascent over the cumbersome and somewhat dangerous route I had mistakenly selected, primarily based on a dotted red line on my map...
joe_akeem - Mar 26, 2009 5:57 am Date Climbed: Jun 18, 1998
From Griessee
Last skiing trip this year. Spent the night in a tent on the Nufenen pass. Started the climb at 6am from the Griessee dam and reached the summit at 9h45. We waited on the summit until 10h20 for perfect snow conditions. This day was relatively cold so an earlier start might be a good idea on other days.
mulidivarese - Feb 29, 2008 6:52 am Date Climbed: Jun 15, 2003
it was the beginning
it was the first of a long summer spent climbing great mountains.
from the città di Busto to the top and than down along the glatscher and across the Griess-pass to morasco
wonderfull sunny day
Valeiro, Jolanda, Daniele
Mathias Zehring - Feb 3, 2008 5:51 pm Date Climbed: Oct 31, 1994
early ski tour
heavy snow fall in October made it possible to do this nice trip with ski - my earliest ski tour ever on a very fine and clear day. We started at Corno Gries hut. It was a very long route.
Cyrill - Feb 2, 2008 4:50 pm Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2004
Blinnenhorn/Corno Cieco 3374m
A impressive tour to Blinnenhorn/Corno Cieco 3374m
Ivona - Jun 22, 2017 4:59 pm Date Climbed: Jun 14, 2017
from Italy-Rifugio Città di Bustowonderful sunny day :) beautiful area
il.rocciatore - Mar 18, 2017 7:44 am
Route Climbed: Rif. Margaroli - Rif. Claudio e Bruno - Blinnenhorn - Cap. Corno Gries Date Climbed: march 2017Quite straightforward climb via Passo del Vannino and Gran Sella del Gries. Nice summit which I had been waiting for for more than 10 years.
Descent via left branch of the Gries glacier (no crevasses) to the Griessee. Due to the low water / ice level the path to the Passo del Corno was blocked by some steep, avalanche prone slopes. We finally climbed the left bank of the Griessee just below the dam, traversed the dam and climbed the ridge between the wind mills to the Passo del Corno.
Charming hut is the Capanna Corno Gries. Warm welcome.
andrea.it - May 13, 2014 7:35 am Date Climbed: May 10, 2014
Ski routeVery nice ski route from Lago di Morasco
rgg - Jun 27, 2013 12:26 pm Date Climbed: Jun 26, 2013
I made a few mistakes today...A very nice day for climbing, but my first mistake was that I didn't start earlier.
I left from the dam at Lago del Sabbione at 8. Normally, at this time of the year there is no snow on the slopes before getting to the glacier, but this year is not normal.
I had to put on my crampons soon after I started climbing. However, because I had started late, the top layer of the snow soon got soft and I only managed to ascend at a measly rate of 200m per hour. The trails were invisible, so I made my own way up the slopes towards Rifugio 3 A, and turned west from there - strangely enough, there was a rocky ridge free of snow I could follow for a few hundred meters before going on what I thought was the glacier - but from a recent aerial photo, there is almost no ice left, so it was just a snow field.
Shortly after that, I got to a point just over 3000m, due west of Rifugio 3A, where I wasn't sure about the route. My map (1:50 000, "Domodossola e Val Formazza", Instituto Geographico Centrale) showed the Passo dei Camosci, 3150m at that point, but according to the map contours it was just above 3000m. I concluded that the map might be wrong. In fact, looking at the contours again right now, and remembering what I saw, the map is badly lacking, but it's more a matter of scale than anything else. On a much more detailed Swiss map, the Passo dei Camosci is indeed not far from where I was, a few hundred metes to the NW, and at 3161m.
Anyway, while I saw that I could go up the steep snowy slope towards the NW, from my map I couldn't see that I could go anywhere once I got to the top, so I didn't want to take that route. Alternatively, I could easily continue towards the west, and then turn NW after several hundred meters, towards the Rothornpass, ca 3130m. However, this option would mean I would first lose what I estimate to be at least 100m of altitude, which I had worked so hard for. So, instead I chose to do a gently rising traverse on steep slopes along the shortest possible route, roughly heading NNW, keeping a rocky ridge to my right hand side. The terrain was covered in show, otherwise I don't know if this route would have been possible, but even with snow I wouldn't recommend repeating this route. Falling on this traverse could be dangerous. The slope is steep, and if you fall and don't self arrest quickly, it's the luck of the draw if you hit some rocks on the way down before the gradient eases enough to make stopping easier. But since the top layer of the snow was soft, I figured I would indeed be able so self arrest quickly should I have to. Carefully I made my way to the Rothornpass, and from there it was easy going to the summit.
On the way down, I took a somewhat longer but much safer route: first I followed the SE ridge for a while, until I came to a not too steep snow covered ramp towards the SW. In fact, there were several such ramps to choose from. They all lead to easy snowy slopes, on which I could easily descend to the SE, and Rifugio Claudio e Bruno. Had I known about this route, I would have preferred this over the ascent over the cumbersome and somewhat dangerous route I had mistakenly selected, primarily based on a dotted red line on my map...
joe_akeem - Mar 26, 2009 5:57 am Date Climbed: Jun 18, 1998
From GriesseeLast skiing trip this year. Spent the night in a tent on the Nufenen pass. Started the climb at 6am from the Griessee dam and reached the summit at 9h45. We waited on the summit until 10h20 for perfect snow conditions. This day was relatively cold so an earlier start might be a good idea on other days.
mulidivarese - Feb 29, 2008 6:52 am Date Climbed: Jun 15, 2003
it was the beginningit was the first of a long summer spent climbing great mountains.
from the città di Busto to the top and than down along the glatscher and across the Griess-pass to morasco
wonderfull sunny day
Valeiro, Jolanda, Daniele
Mathias Zehring - Feb 3, 2008 5:51 pm Date Climbed: Oct 31, 1994
early ski tourheavy snow fall in October made it possible to do this nice trip with ski - my earliest ski tour ever on a very fine and clear day. We started at Corno Gries hut. It was a very long route.
Cyrill - Feb 2, 2008 4:50 pm Date Climbed: Oct 2, 2004
Blinnenhorn/Corno Cieco 3374mA impressive tour to Blinnenhorn/Corno Cieco 3374m