Daily Archives: 27 July 2015

July 27th

Itinerary:  Rifugio Corno Gries – Passo San Giacomo – Bocchetta di Val Maggia – Basòdino (3272 m) – Passo d’Antabia – Rifugio Piano delle Creste

Distance: 19,7 km
Time:  11 hours (including 40 minutes for stops)
Vertical distance: 1570 m uphill; 1800 m downhill

Peter and I left the hut at 7 a.m. and traversed to the San Giacomo pass.  Climbing the Marchhorn from here appeared too difficult (no snow in the steep couloir) so we took the well marked path to the Bocchetta di Val Maggia.  From here we had to descend some 250 m in height to traverse to the Basòdino Glacier below the Kastellücke.  About 2 hours on this glacier allowed us to climb the final ridge to the Basòdino summit.  Good weather, a few clouds on the horizon.  Descending the SSW ridge proved exciting (knife-edge sections of good rock), but the descent from the Antabia Pass was tricky and required two abseils.  Finally, we reached the Piano delle Creste Hut just in time for supper.

Photo:

At the San Giacomo Pass