Adventure in the snow 1

October 22nd

Itinerary:  Stelvio Pass – 5 summits on the border going north – down to Gasthaus Alpenrose (1788 m) above Santa Maria on the road to the Umbrail Pass.

Distance: 14,2 km
Time:  10 hours 45 minutes (plus 40 minutes for the stops)
Vertical distance:  850 m uphill;  1920 m downhill.

Summits:

Piz de las Trais Linguas, 2843 m
Piz Cotschen, 3026 m
Korspitz, 2933 m
Gross Tartscher Kopf, 2963 m
Piz Costainas, 3004 m

I left the Stelvio Pass at 7:40 am; it was -6°C but the day would be fine: no clouds, no wind.  There were 15-20 cm of fresh snow, and less where it had blown away on the ridges, and it had even disappeared in places.  So I phoned Sally to say it was OK and that I would continue.  How wrong I was!  As I progressed further north, the snow became deeper.  For a kilometre I could follow the tracks of a group of ibex but then progress became increasingly difficult and tiring; I sank in up to my knees, sometimes up to a hip between boulders.

The ascent of the last two summits proved easier; there was less snow between the rocks and I could follow the markers visible in places. On the other hand, the technical difficulty was higher, PD or even more, and on the fairly steep descents, I often floundered up to my thighs.  A little before 4 p.m. it was time to stop: I went down a not too steep slope from a col just after Piz Costainas, on the Swiss side.  Once I had reached the bottom of a side valley, the snow became less deep, but it still took more than three hours to reach the road between Santa Maria and Umbrail – by then it was already dark!

Night: Chasa Chalavaina, Müstair

Photos:

1. Below Piz Cotschen, still acceptable
2. The south ridge of Piz Costainas; the route goes directly to the summit from the bottom of the picture