Alpine Logistics

Donnas is a crag at the lower end of Valle d’Aosta, suspended above both the moterway and the highway which run the length of the valley. However despite its unfortunate position during the winter, spring and autumn months it’s always packed: people come from as far afield as Geneva for a morning’s climbing before returning to the office in the afternoon! So it must be a worthwhile place to go climbing in Italy.

There’s one 6a, one 6c and the rest is all in the 7a-7c range, with one 8a and an 8b+…and it’s overhanging. Being our local crag we now know most of the routes back to front but it hasn’t always been that way. When I first started climbing at Donnas 7a was my limit and overhangs weren’t my thing…I once told a non-climbing friend of mine that going climbing there was like going to work!

For some time I tried my best to avoid going but I soon realized that if I wanted to become a better climber I’d have to face my fears and improve on my weaknesses. One of the great things about climbing is that you never stop learning and although it wasn’t an easy task it’s given me a great deal of satisfaction to be able to gain new skills and strength through perseverence and maintaining a positive attitude.

I now happily spend a day a week at Donnas, often doing routes I’ve done many times before but I know it’s all good endurance training. There are still plenty of routes left for me to work on though so the challange isn’t over!

It was -8′C when we parked the car in the upper reaches of Val di Rhemes. This is one of Valle d’Aosta’s many side valleys, geologically speaking it’s a hanging valley, carved out by a glacier feeding into the the main ice sheet which slowly flowed down Valle d’Aosta roughly 10,000 years ago.

Here at 1700m we were above the low-level cloud cover that was stopping the sun from shining in the main valley below from which we had just come. We walked for about three quarters of an hour up steep zig zags in a pine forest before the trees thinned and the landscape opened out.

Now at 2100m, we were on a high-level plateau surrounded by an amphitheatre of rock and snow forming ridges, peaks and cols. To the east we could see Grand Combin sitting above the clouds and to the west the French Alps.

Ski mountaineers passed us on their way down occasionally. The going was tough as the snow was wind-blown and thus irregular in its consistancy; it was hard to maintain a constant pace. As we gained height the wind picked up and it was bitterly cold, especially near our high point, the glacier of Entrelor, where we had to pass into the shade of the near-by Entrelor peak.

However the way down was relatively quick and it was a relief to get back into the sun and out of the wind, where we ate a well-deserved sandwhich with some hot tea before finishing the descent.

A short trip this week-end into the valley of Gressoney from the village of Goy to Punta Lauretta. Tha car park was full of other people gearing up for their weekly outing into the mountains and the track was hard and well beaten. “Why don’t we try without snowshoes this time seeing as the path is so good?” I suggested just before setting off, so this is what we did.

For the first part of the walk, meandering up through a pineforest just catching the first morning sunlight, the going was good and we were hapy with our decision. Snowshoes are very useful in deep, untrodden snow but if used when not needed they make walking unnecessarily awkward.

Gradually however the wide, well-trodden path turned into a narrow, little frequented track which ascended into a very eaceful Monte Mars Natural Reserve up through boulders and eventually onto a saddle. Treading delicately I managed not to sink in too much but had to restrain myself from laughing when Manuel constantly fell into the snow up to his waist and then had to struggle back out.

By this time though our high point was near at hand so we contiued to the top before descending on easier ground…a rounded ridge from which the layer of snow had been thinned by the wind. From here there were wonderful views onto the Monte Rosa massif, we could see the east and west Lyskamm peaks and behind that the Matterhorn basking in the sun. We started dreaming and planning this summers list of alpine ascents and rock routes….

But next time we know not to leave our snowshoes behind!

Whilst the rest of northern Italy was overcast with widespread rain and snow showers this Sunday, the mountains around Courayeur were blessed with blue skies and sunshine.

We drove to Morge, a tiny village above La Salle in the northern-most reaches of Valle d’Aosta, near Monte Bianco. The road zig-zags for several hunded metres up the mountain side, where a small car park and some footpath signs half burried in snow mark the end of the road at an elevation of 1600m.

We were heading for Testa d’Eifra (2818m) via Colle Felita. We put on boots, gaiters and snowshoes and began our walk through a sweet-smelling pineforests which, as I commented to Manuel, will forever remind me of bears in the Canadian forests of Banff National Park!

The air was still and the sun srong, it was very peacful and blissfully silent in the forest. We noticed the footprints of a snow hare which crossed our path and disappeared into the trees. It’s nice to be remindeed that we share the mountains with these wild animals even if they are rarely seen.

Eventaully we came across a group of old stone houses burried almost upto the roof in snow, before rising above the tree line into an open, white landscae dominated by the surrounding peaks. The wind picked up as we became more exposed to the elements but it was a beautiful day. It was hard to believe that just a few kilometres down the main valley it was snowing: we felt very lucky.

A few dots in the distance moved slowly upwards beneath our col. Ski mountaineers leave early in the morning to get the best snow during their descent…leaving it too late would mean skiing through mush. However our snowshoes are lighter than their skis so we caught up with them at the col. From here a wide but corniced ridge led in a short distance to the summit.

The skiers peeled the skins from their skis, put on a few more layers of clothes and waved us a cheerful ‘ciao!’ as they dived off down the summit slopes. Half an hour and they would probably be back at the car…we on the other hand sat down to enjoy lunch and the views before our somewhat slower descent on foot. Monte Bianco’s giant bulk was unmissable, it towers above the other peaks despite being further away, what a mountain.