A week of rain, low cloud, travel and discovery, well I guess the good weather couldn’t last forever.
Friday 14th, leaving the solitude of the Voralphutte hut parking behind us it’s down into Andermatt, the tourist information are so helpful, fast WiLan, clean toilets, and refilling our water supplies. After email, weather and blogging duties are fulfilled, we stroll round the old town dodging showers.
Their is some ‘Tour of Switzerland’ bike event that is passing through town, but the 500 plus competitors are spaced out by miles. The odd ‘team’ car with bikes piled on the roof, the event marshals with their Porche parked outside the four star restaurant, and even the odd frozen competitor with full waterproofs, not quite the same as ‘Le Tour’.
Our journey through the mountains following the past of the famous ‘Glacier Express’, past Laxx, Flims and other famous ski resorts, with continuous wetness from the sky, rain showers drizzle, with low could obscuring most of the view.
Journeys end is St Moritz. In a break from the rain we take an hour to walk around town. I don’t think I’ve felt quite so uncomfortable and out of place for some time. Wealth oozes from every inch of the place. From the row of jewellers (no prices in the window, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it) the high end fashion to the exclusive hotels with their chauffeur driven Rolls-Royce outside. It is epitomised by two couples, one in their 60’s with more wealth in the rings on one hand than Sarah and I posses. The other a father and son, pass us clad in designer fashion and give the most utter look of disdain and contempt to us lower beings whom dare to be on the same street. Our €1.49 Lidl bought Nero d’avola in Heidi in the cablecar carpark as the rain returns feels so much more comfortable, so much more us. Not a place I’m keen to return to.
Saturday 15th, Over the Berninna pass. Whilst the pass itself is clear, the mountains are bathed in cloud. (I had hopes of an attempt on the north ridge of the Piz Badile, but no chance with the current weather pattern, so it waits for another year). The lower glacier of Piz Bernina just peaks out from under the rain clouds. Down into Italy, and an immediate change in the state of the road, from manicured Swiss to potholed Italian. However with the change in country, we don’t get much of a change in weather save the temperature.
We drive through a ‘closed’ Sondrino town centre (later we found out it’s a religious holiday), google maps give us the nearest McDonalds, our most reliable source of free wifi, then up to an Italian Passion farm just as the rain stops and the swallows come out.
Sunday 16th, we Wake up to more low cloud, and the persistent mix of rain, drizzle, mist and showers, what to do? After a lazy morning of coffee and reading we head back into Sondrio in search of Internet, and shopping. Hours are spent in Decathlon, the Mello factory store, and the Salewa outlet. With several pairs of trousers and some shoes having reached the end of their life, it’s a welcome relief to have some new, clean clothes. We find ourselves a little Camperstop in Sondrino town centre, and settle down for the night.
Monday 17th, the rain eases, and we spend an hour walking round Sondrino town centre now it’s both dry, and the shops are open. Given that it’s such an old town, so little of the ancient centre remains and 60’s concrete dominates the architecture.
We head up to Val Masino, and the Mello valley. We stop for lunch to watch climbers red point in on an overhang – possibly the only dry rock. The “boulders”are so high being bolted climbing routes. A quick dash up to the Gianetti hut (2534m) with the hope of seeing the back of Piz Bernina. Tantalising glimpses of the peaks through the could,
the rain just misses us as we see it skirt the valley below us. At Bagino de Masino what looks like a newly refurbished hotel (2014 trip advisor stickers) stands abandoned. A perfect carpark, flat, sheltered, high and with a thermal spring for free hot water.
Tuesday 18th, the sun comes out, its dry, but the high could persists. I’d heard much of the Mello valley, with it’s world famous bouldering and the annual gathering of the worlds climbing elite at ‘MelloBloc’. Very different from the previous day. A wide flat valley floor, scattered with farming hamlets. Many now having had amazing makeovers, with plentiful refuges for lunch. Comparisons with Elterwater and Chesters Cafe come to both Sarah and I.
We head thought the valley and up through the woods to a Refuge at the valley end. There is much excitement as mushrooms of all shapes sizes and varieties have erupted with the recent wet weather. As the cloud lifts slightly we head higher than the Refuge. The path is not as popular and often disappears as we ascent and criss-cross by the side of waterfalls.
As we head up to the clouds the rain returns and we beat a hasty retreat down the valley chased by showers. A second night at the hotel with a friendly German family who we watch playing in the carpark, the gummy bears giving the boys a sugar high is the same spectator sport in all Countries! Rain, buckets of rain, so loud on the roof that it wakes us in the night.
Wednesday 19th, with the weather it’s obvious that we can neither do any high mountains, nor given the rain streaked slabs, climb. So, it’s time to move on again. Water storage has been a persistent issue for us. An eclectic mix of nalgene bottles, old squash bottles and other receptacles had its limitations. Each time we had stopped over the past few weeks, we had been search for a more sustainable alternative. That morning our old Gelert flexible container sprung a leak :-(. In the nick of time, just after we had re-stocked at a small supermarket, random wandering found a Chinese owned ‘home store’ and some sturdy 10L containers, we we saved :-). Then a beautiful drive through to Bormio and the Stelvio National Park. A wander through the streets of Bormio, and an hours shoe shopping before we headed up to Santa Caterina. A tiny resort on the edge of the National Park, and host for an F.I.S World Cup event this December. I’m not sure how they will cope with the influx of people that will bring.
Thursday 20th, guided by the local tourist information, a beautiful walk up to Lago del nanzino, with views back up the the glaciated peaks of Monte Vioz, Monte Covedale, and Punta san Melta. Then higher to a small to a small col bivvy hut for lunch, as clouds curl over the Coll and obscure the two summits either side.
Down, and through Bormio up the infamous Selvio Pass.
High winding hairpins, with narrow roads and even narrower tunnels. No wonder it’s a favourite of the Giro d’Italia. The summit of the col it filled with souvenir shops and three huge 70’s hotels. The massive car parks are full of VW’s from every Italian ski report full of aspiring young racers, accompanied by Sweden, Monaco, Solvenia, Poland. We have stumbled upon a summer training camp.
Friday 21st, after a bitterly cold night, well we are quite high sleeping close to 3,000m we get to survey the scene. It’s the most unpleasant side of skiing with the slopes below the glacier looking like an open cast mine. As we explore the small summits (>3000m!) either side of the col it is littered with WW1 memorials. The pass was the old boarder with Italy, Austria and Switzerland, and the site of much action. Trenches, gun emplacements, and ruined building are the preserved as memorials. Low cloud persists. It’s clear that whilst beautiful there is no more mountaineering to be down here given the weather. So, we decide to leave the high mountains behind us and start our journey home, aiming for a week in the Jura.
Out for now.
David & Sarah
alpinesummer 