Becca di Gay

Overview

At the back of the Valnontey you can see some majestic north faces. One of these faces, the one most to the right, belongs to the Becca di Gay.

The north face is a giant rock triangle and has a large couloir on either side. The rock is generally sound. There are some really nice routes on this side of the mountain. The easiest being the North East Ridge, then the harder North Face Couloirs and the Grassy Couloir (climbing towards the Anticima Becca di Gay) and finally the hard Central Pillar.
The south- or Piemontside of the Becca di Gay is a face of split rock wich is not very safe to climb, especially in dry years when there is a lot of rockfall.

This mountain stands proudly above the glacier Ghiacciaio del Gran Crou. It can be seen all the way from Cogne. This is not an easy mountain to climb, for the routes are hard and the descent is difficult to find. But the quality of the routes and the views make up for this!

Getting There

In General (thanks to Antonio Giani for this description):
Approach to southern valleys (Valnontey, Valeille)
• Coming from France through the Mont Blanc tunnel or the Col du Petit Saint Bernard - use the autoroute to Aosta Ovest or the road SS n° 26 until you reach the junction near Sarre.
• Coming from Italy - use the autoroute to Aosta Ovest .
Then, after Aymavilles enter the valley southward and after Vieyes, Epinel and Cretaz villages, (25 km) you get to Cogne (1534 m).
From Cogne, by bus or by car, to Valnontey (1666 m).

Approach to southern valleys (Piantonetto and Noaschetta)
• coming from Torino - autoroute to Aosta - till to S. Giorgio Canavese or take the road SS n°460 to Ceresole Reale.
When you arrive at Rosone village (16 km to Pont Canavese) take a little road on the right, see the sign "Piantonetto Valley". Go as far as the end of the carriage road atTeleccio Lake 1870 m, and park your car.

To Bivacco Borghi:
From Valnontey follow the trail towards the end of the valley. Cross the bridge near the big boulder and keep following the signs for Bivacco Borghi. At the back of the valley the track goes up a moraine, follow this and you will find the bivacco to your right on a small rock-island. Cross the snowfields to get there (2,5-3 hours).

Red Tape

This is a national park. Take care of it. Don't leave your trash for others to clean up. Take care of the bivacco's, they are so important.
You don’t need a permit.
Remember that camping is not allowed (except for emergency reasons, over 2.500 m).

More information can be found here:
Gran Paradis National Park
Park rules

Books and Maps

Books:
• Gran Paradiso, Die 100 Schönsten Touren; Gian Carlo Grassi

Maps:
• Kompass
Gran Paradiso Valle d'Aosta
Sentieri e rifugi-Carta turistica 1:50.000
• I.G.C.-Istituto Geografico Centrale Gran Paradiso La Grivola Cogne Carta 1:25.000
• I.G.M. -Istituto Geografico Militare
Foglio 41 1:25.000: I SO Gran Paradiso - I NE Cogne
• AIAT COGNE GRAN PARADISO
GRAN PARADISO Cogne Aymavilles - Walking map 1:25.000

Camping

In Valnontey there are three campgrounds:

Camping Bouva *
Loc.Valtontey
11012 - Cogne (AO)
Tel. 0165 74181
periodo invernale: Tel. 0165 235615

Camping Gran Paradiso *
Loc.Valtontey
11012 - Cogne (AO)
Tel. 0165 749204
periodo invernale: Tel. 0165 74105

Camping Lo Stambecco **
Fraz. Valnontey,
11012 - Cogne (AO)
Tel. 0165 74152 Fax 0165 749213

More information or campgrounds in other village's can be found here.

External Links

Valle d'Aosta Meteo - Meteo Information
A.I.NE.VA. - Snow and Avalanche Information
Cogne - Cogne.org
Ready2climb - Ice climbing in Cogne

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Images

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