pg55hodge wrote:From a vacation base in Viareggio, I did SOSAT on Friday July 10, 2014 from the Valisenella car park and descended to the Brentai hut for the night. The next day the three of us went up to the start of Centrali, climbed the 4-5 ladders up the rock fin that starts the route but went no further deciding to descend back to the car to return to the beach. While the rest of the group (6) went to Rome, I took trains/buses back to the Brenta alone Tues, July 15, hiked to Rif. Apostoli for the night, and on Wed did Ideale, Benini, had lunch at Pedrotti and finished the day at Rif. Alimonta after doing Centrali. Thursday, I did Alte and descended to Valisenella to catch a bus "home".
There was a lot of snow! Officially, Alte was closed but several parties including myself did it that week. Route finding is the big challenge. There are large sections, mostly flat to gently sloping that are buried and no marks are apparent for up to 500 meters at a stretch. A map was a must for me and I still lost time searching for the route in a number of places on nearly every route I did but particularly Alte and Benini because they involve multiple passes.
If you are a solid 5.9 sport climber used to exposure you should be just fine. With the exception of the ladders, which I used for support, I rarely used cables, did a lot of what I would call scrambling with exposure and never took my harness or safety gear out of my pack. I was happy as can be loving the exposure. If you are only a sport climber, do heed warnings about route finding, and alpine conditions, etc. Alte ranges from ~2700-3000 meters and we did get some grapule and a bit of rain. Although technically very easy for me, the route finding was not obvious and there was a lot of at times rather steep snow to go up or descend. I did have crampons and axe and used both but not always. I saw a pair of young ladies doing Centrali in trainers, no axes or poles, and seemed quite happy and comfortable. They did have harnesses and via ferrata kit.
Two other points. The guide books are not written from a rock climbers point of view although they do give the proper perspective from an alpinists view. I also found Italian signs and guide book times to be aggressive. In the states, I am used to handily beating suggested times by up to half. On SOSAT, the three of us did the hike to Tuckett close the suggested time but took 50% longer on SOSAT itself and then in the thick fog, not familiar with the terrain, were not certain where either Alimonta or Brentai huts were so that took some time to sort out.
Lastly, in just a weeks time the snow was visibly less and softer so by September who knows what conditions will be like.
By all means go. Just seeing the cliffs from the huts gets your blood boiling.
Enjoy,
Peter
Awesome, thanks so much. Who knows what conditions will be like mid september, but hopefully not too much snow. That you did it all without harness or lanyard definitely speaks volumes, unless you're Alex Honnold?
So having done it all, if we only have two days one night.. what do you think would be the ideal itinerary if we are average speed?
On day 1 we do Vallesinella to Rif Tuckett to SOSAT to Rif Brentei to Centrali to Rif Alimonta. And then day 2: Alte and back to Vallesinella. - this would be the easy itinerary
Or day 1 we do Vallesinella to Rif Brentei to Ideale & Brentari to Rif Tosa/Pedrotti to Bocchette Centrali to Rif Alimonta - Is this too much for one day?
And day 2: Alte and back to Vallesinella - Would it be too much to do SOSAT after Alte? My book says it takes 6 hours to do Alte from Alimonta to Tuckett?
Or day 1 Vallesinella to SOSAT, Ideale, Brentari and overnight at Pedrotti. Then day 2 Centrali/Alte back to Vallesinella. Not sure if Alimonta is a better/more impressive area to spend a night than Pedrotti?
Thanks!