This picture shows (almost) the whole route:

For highres go to: http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/338290.jpg

To the left leading to Mont Blanc summit: Brouillard ridge.
To the right leading to Mont Blanc summit: Peuterey ridge.
In the middle under Mont Blanc summit: Pt. Innominata and Innominata ridge.
In the lower left on top of the green ridge: Monzino hut.
The snow-capped mountain to the right of Mont Blanc is Aig. Blanche de Peuterey.
Seen from Val Veny. The starting point of the climb is the road inside Val Veny and can be reached directly from Courmayeur.

Look at http://www.sportextreme.com/phclmo15033/

Corrie wrote:Grateful thanks for your help. Is this practical as a route? Walk from Courmayeur to Val Veni in the morning and proceed to La Visaille. Climb to the Monzino hut to spend the night. Next morning very early, take route via Brouillard glacier to Punta Innominata. Climb Punta Innominata and walk back to Courmayeur on same day.

If you enjoy loooong days this is possible.

I`d take one of the frequent busses or taxi or hitchhike from Courmayeur into the valley (Val Veni) though. The road is not very nice to walk because there's "Italian" traffic and some trucks and cars behave pretty rude on the narrow corners. Not enjoyable for a hiker and maybe more dangerous than the ascent itself.

I second Nikman's recommendation not to walk all the way from Courmayeur.

The standard route to Punta Innominata is via the SE ridge. To reach it, one crosses the Châtelet glacier rather than the Brouillard glacier. It is a very popular route in summer, with amazing views from the summit. The Vallot guide rates it PD, while Buscaini rates it PD+/AD-.

brenta wrote:It is a very popular route in summer, with amazing views from the summit. The Vallot guide rates it PD, while Buscaini rates it PD+/AD-.

This difference may be due to icy / dry rock conditions as i got it from the (outdated) german guidebook.
(We tried to do it in a daytrip from the parking at Peuterey but turned back at 3000m due to rain.)

In october you will find the route more on the AD+ side unless you're very lucky with the weather...

Martin

Flachlandtiroler wrote:

brenta wrote:It is a very popular route in summer, with amazing views from the summit. The Vallot guide rates it PD, while Buscaini rates it PD+/AD-.

This difference may be due to icy / dry rock conditions as i got it from the (outdated) german guidebook.
(We tried to do it in a daytrip from the parking at Peuterey but turned back at 3000m due to rain.)

In october you will find the route more on the AD+ side unless you're very lucky with the weather...

Martin

How depends the rating system on the weather?

Sebastian Hamm wrote:How depends the rating system on the weather?

You're right that the given rating should always apply

But with mixed climbs or higher altitude routes usually the "typical conditions" are rated. That is if a section of rock in season usually is dry it gets an easier grade than if it would always be icy. An easy slab (UIAA I+) and a solid 50° icefield are different things.

So the two guidebooks mentioned from "Brenta" perhaps differ only in the point of view, what the typical condition is -- and this is severly subject to change in our times, as we all know.

So for $subject my guidebook says it's PD+ if dry (later in season) and AD- if not.

Martin

as for my memories (when I went to Pic Eccles to climb the Innominata) the Punta Innominata looked not difficult and fast to get using the WNW side or the N ridge: both these routes can be climbed starting from the route of Bivacco Lampugnani ...

gabriele wrote:as for my memories (when I went to Pic Eccles to climb the Innominata) the Punta Innominata looked not difficult and fast to get using the WNW side or the N ridge: both these routes can be climbed starting from the route of Bivacco Lampugnani ...

From what I understand this is possible (and not difficult) but in any way a detour when starting from Monzino hut.

It takes 5 - 6h from Monzino-hut to Eccles Biv. (= Bivacco Lampugnani) and you will have to add at least a little more time to traverse from Eccles Biv. to Pt. Innominata summit via the N-ridge.
This takes more time than someone needs for the normal route to Pt. Innominata starting at Monzino-hut going up the S-E-ridge.

Nikman wrote:It takes 5 - 6h from Monzino-hut to Eccles Biv. (= Bivacco Lampugnani) and you will have to add at least a little more time to traverse from Eccles Biv. to Pt. Innominata summit via the N-ridge.
This takes more time than someone needs for the normal route to Pt. Innominata starting at Monzino-hut going up the S-E-ridge.

No need to arrive to the Lampugnani: once at the Col du Freney (~ 3600m) or just a little before it you turn to the right and you have to climb for little more than 100m
From Monzino to the Col it took less than 3 hours (4 hours to Pic Eccles)

Flachlandtiroler wrote:

Sebastian Hamm wrote:How depends the rating system on the weather?

You're right that the given rating should always apply

But with mixed climbs or higher altitude routes usually the "typical conditions" are rated. That is if a section of rock in season usually is dry it gets an easier grade than if it would always be icy. An easy slab (UIAA I+) and a solid 50° icefield are different things.

So the two guidebooks mentioned from "Brenta" perhaps differ only in the point of view, what the typical condition is -- and this is severly subject to change in our times, as we all know.

So for $subject my guidebook says it's PD+ if dry (later in season) and AD- if not.

Martin

Every route is more difficult due to bad weather or bad conditions. The thing is that the conditions and the weather are not rateable. So this isn´t necessary.

Stuedl-Ridge is normally AD. While normal bad conditions maybe D-. While bad weather maybe AD+.
I was at Großglockner a day after the big flood in Austria and Bavaria (Aug 2005). The next days it had maybe TD.

So it´s self-explanatory.

Don´t worry. Just kidding. I know what you mean.

Gabriele, would you recommend the N ridge over the SE ridge for an October ascent? I'd be a bit worried to get on a heavily crevassed Brouillard glacier with no tracks to follow before dawn, but I bow to your greater experience.

brenta wrote:... I'd be a bit worried to get on a heavily crevassed Brouillard glacier with no tracks to follow before dawn...

I haven't climbed the SE ridge of the Punta Innominata, so I don't know which is the better route, I remember that from the route to Pic Eccles it looked not difficult ...
I started from Monzino at 3am, in the dark and deep fog, following some tracks along the Western (steep) slopes of Innominata and, bordering the glacier, got the Col du Freney.
I don't remember any problem for crevasses (in the early '80s the glacier was much bigger than now).
While escaping from Pic Eccles, to go faster, we unroped a little below the col du Freney (in the high right part of the photo you can see one of my 3 partners)
I agree it's not a simple walk