Mont Vélan 2

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July 5th

Start:  Grand-St-Bernard tunnel north entrance; finish: Vélan Hut
Distance: 13,7 km
Time taken: 10 hours (plus 1h25 for the stops)
Vertical distance:  1890 m uphill, 1180 m downhill

Met up with Dave, my new guide for the next 2-3 weeks, and started up to Col d’Annibal: over 1000 m of steep grass, scree and moraines, which took us almost 4 hours.  Then the Hannibal arête itself was nearly as bad, with a lot of loose rock and scree.  Not to be recommended!  Tracks led in soft snow from the summit down the “voie normale” to the Vélan Hut.  We had intended to head for a bivouac hut on the Italian side of Col Valsorey but no tracks led there.  We were the only people in the hut that night.  The day before (Saturday) there had been 25 and all of them reached the summit.

Photo:
The Vélan Hut

IMG_7084C

2 thoughts on “Mont Vélan”

  • David Leishman

    Rupert,
    So far so good, it seems, though you must be starting to feel the strain, in the mountains, day after day, & with all that wet snow – do hope you’re taking enough rest days. How’s your progress matching up with your planned schedule? Stick at it, pal – much to do, but if anyone could see it thru’, it would be you!

    David

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