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We got up early, when dawn was breaking and hurried outside for some
pictures. It was just below zero and the sunrise was amazing.
Afterwards we had our first real breakfast in Italy. There was good
dark bread, Yogurt, Muesli and great hot chocolate. Much better!
After breakfast we asked our host whether we could leave some items
behind during our side-trip to the Signalkuppe. He gave me a box and
showed me a storage room where we could deposit our
belongings. Awesome service again... Also, the hotel employees and
owners were always very friendly and helpful. We were asked whether we
would stay for lunch and decided to see what they would
serve.
To get ready for the afternoon, we started to split our gear into two
big piles, leaving everything we could behind. With a guide and a
reservation in the Rifugio Gnifetti we could get by without tent and
thermarests. We also left a lot of other non-essential things behind
to reduce our load a bit.
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After that we took off for a 1 hour exploration of the area and
observed construction of a new cable-way which almost reaches the
Rifugio Citta di Mantova at 3498 meters.
When we returned our host had a message from Lyskamm Viaggi for us. It
turned out that their own guides were all booked but they were able to
find an external replacement. We were to meet him at 15:00 at the
Passo Salati cable-way.
We were then led to a table reserved for us right at the edge of the
terrace with the best imaginable view. We had a delicious vegetarian
Lasagne with artichokes and a huge platter of cheese for lunch.
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Having eaten so much, we were a bit slow to get up and left for Passo
Salati around 14:20. At the terminal of the Alagna cable-way we waited
for our guide and saw some not at all shy ibexes.
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Our guide's name was Alberto Zucchetti. He works for Guide
Alagna, a group of guides based out of Alagna. He arrived at 14:45
and greeted us heartily. We packed our extra gear and took off up the
ridge towards the Rifugio Gnifetti. The path first climbs quite
quickly up the Stolemberg. After a while we descended again down to
the Colle dell' Acqua. Here the route began to ascend again.
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We passed the terminal belonging to the retired cable-way up to Punta
Indren. Apparently there is some discussion about refurbishing it but
the costs are substantial. Alberto was quite unhappy about its closure
since the new one under construction will only be ready in 2 to 3
years.
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The trail turns away from the ridge here and starts to traverse across
what was supposed to be the Indren glacier according to our
maps. However, its eastern flank is almost completely gone and only
the western end still had some substance.
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At the western end of the glacier the path hits a steep rocky
ridge. It forks into an easier variant which detours around it to the
south and passes by the Rifugio Citta di Mantova and a second option
which involves some scrambling. The tricky parts are secured with
ropes and wooden steps, though, and we did not have any problems but
quite some fun.
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Once on top of the ridge, one gets a good view of the Rifugio Gnifetti
across the Garstelet glacier. It was snow covered and a good path lead
across. To get to the Rifugio one had to scramble up a few ladder
steps which again were secured with ropes.
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We arrived at the Rifugio at 17:25. It is quite large, offering beds
for 150. We had room number one which only contained 5 beds and was
situated in a corner above the dining room. It appeared to be a very
good choice, presumably since the guide office reserved it. It was
very quiet, warm and had an awesome view.
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Mountaineers get up early, breakfast time was 4:30 to 6:15.
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Even the view from the toilet was 'breathtaking'. The Lys glacier is
quite large and comes down from the Colle de Lys. We would climb it
the next morning.
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This was the view I went to bed with.
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