Alpine Logistics

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.