Back in April, I went to Italy for just over 2 weeks. This was my first time to Europe and it was an amazing experience. For the first week, I was doing the Ortler Traverse, a hut-to-hut ski tour in the Alps. The second week, I went on to Venice, Florence and Rome to do some sightseeing and eat lots of great food.
My coworker, Lulu, and her husband, Graham, were the driving force behind the trip and were nice enough to extend the invitation to me. I hemmed and hawed a bit before laying down the cash to commit, but I'm so glad I decided to go.
The plan came together like this: L and G would go over a week early with their friend, Julia, to do some skiing in Chamonix and Zermatt. Chris, Puck and I would meet up in Santa Caterina Valfurva a couple days prior to the Ortler Traverse. L, G and J would drive from Zermatt to Santa Caterina with our guides, Martin and Mike, from Pro Guiding Service, located right here in North Bend, WA. They'd pick the 3 of us up and we would continue on to the Rifugio Forni, where our adventure in the Ortler Mountains would begin.
The plan came together like this: L and G would go over a week early with their friend, Julia, to do some skiing in Chamonix and Zermatt. Chris, Puck and I would meet up in Santa Caterina Valfurva a couple days prior to the Ortler Traverse. L, G and J would drive from Zermatt to Santa Caterina with our guides, Martin and Mike, from Pro Guiding Service, located right here in North Bend, WA. They'd pick the 3 of us up and we would continue on to the Rifugio Forni, where our adventure in the Ortler Mountains would begin.
I set off for Milan on April 6. I flew from Seattle to New York City and then on to Milan, arriving the morning of April 7. From Milan, I caught a train to Tirano, then a bus to Bormeo and yet another bus to the small town of Santa Caterina Valfurva. I stumbled my way to Thurweiser Hotel, where I met up with Chris and Puck who had spent the day skiing at the local resort. It was very long day of travel, but it all went pretty smooth, especially considering that I don't know how to say much more than grazie and ciao in Italian.
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| Downtown Santa Caterina Valfurva |
Santa Caterina is a cool little ski town. It was pretty quiet in April, but there were some fun restaurants and bars to check out. We talked to some Italians while eating dinner. They were surprised to see Americans all they out there and had to ask what we were doing. They were friendly and introduced us to some Italian mixed drinks we just had to try.
The next day, Chris, Puck and I paid 10 euro each to catch a ride up on the gondola and then we toured out of the ski area toward Monte Sobretta (3,269m). It was nice to get out and stretch the legs and get used to the elevation. It was a cool, breezy day, but the views were spectacular. We toured up to a point at about 3,200m.
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| Chris, Puck and I tour out of Santa Caterina ski area |
Later that day, they rest of crew cruised into Santa Caterina and picked us up and off to the Rifugio Forni we went. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. The adventure begins!
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| Rifugio Forni |
Day 1: Toured from Rifugio Forni to Rifugio Branca. Dropped the gear we didn't need and set out on a tour up Monte Pasquale.
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| Incredible views all around. Taken on a tour up M. Pasquale |
Day 2: Climbed Pizzo Tresero (3,594m) and skied off the summit. Returned to Rifugio Branca.
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| Working our way up Tresero |
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| View from the top of Tresero |
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| Back at Rifugio Branca taking in the view |
Day 3: Toured up the moraine above Rifugio Branca in steady snow and poor visibility. Gained roughly 1,200m before turning around due to questionable snow stability.
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| Dinner time! |
Day 4: Got up before 6 AM and left Rifugio Branca, bound for Rifugio Pizzini. Dropped the gear we didn't need at Pizzini and then climbed Monte Cevedale. Blue skies and fresh pow made for an incredible day.
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| Graham and Chris with Rifugio Casati and Gran Zebru in the background |
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| Martin on the summit of Cevedale |
Day 5: Got up early for a 6 AM breakfast so we could attempt Monte Zebru, the highest peak in the area. We made good time to couloir, put on our crampons and grabbed our axes and started up. Deep snow and questionable stability turned us around. We skied back to the hut, grabbed a cappuccino, then headed back out to harvest some powder turns.
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| Back at Pizzini after attempting Zebru and skiing pow |
Day 6: Our last day. We did a half-day tour in surprisingly good snow before heading back down the valley towards Rifugio Forni
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| One last meal at Rifugio Forni before driving back to the train station |
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| At the train station, on our way back to Milan |
We all spent the night in Milan and the next day I caught a train bound for Venice. Stay tuned for post about Venice, Florence and Rome!
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