In Toni de Tuni footsteps

“… Few English mountaineers are familiar with the Lanzo Valleys, which range from the northwest of Turin to the Alps dividing Italy from France. The few of them who visited them have certainly been struck by Balme position in Val d’Ala. The village is surrounded by steep cliffs and dominated by the gigantic Bessanese rocky massif (11.917 ft) closing the valley. Antonio Castagneri, the great Italian guide, lived here…” (W.A.B. Coolidge 1890, on “The Alpine Journal”)

Indications

Suggested period

From (mid) June to mid September

Starting point

Balme

Duration

2 nights – 3 days minimum

Recommended for

Mountaineers

Holiday hint

A trip to the origins , in the Turin mountaineering cradle, to discover historical routes on the Val d’Ala final mountains, on topographers and first alpine guides’ footsteps. Everything started in the 1857 summer. Engineer Tonini, employed by the Savoy royal land registry, and Ambrosini, his assistant for trigonometric survey operations, climbed the main Valley summits (Ciamarella, Bessanese, Croce Rossa, and Uja di Mondrone). Later on the English mountaineers accompanied by alpine guides, arrived.

A vacation, fit for you, devoted to classic mountaineering. Skill is required to judge and know how to tackle the climbing ground. The true difficulty is not climbing grades but the rock variety and your ability to locate clue passages, at times misleading. On your own or guided by experts’ skill, it will be possible to choose among several itineraries.

Normal routes:
Uja Ciamarella, Uja Bessanese, Albaron di Savoia and Uja di Mondrone

Alternative crest itineraries:
Punta Maria by the NW Col d’Arnas crest
Ciamarella, from the Chalanson Passo Superiore, joining Punta Chalanson and Piccola Ciamarella by the border crest

The great classic routes:
Spigolo Murari (III – IV) and Cresta Rey (III – IV) to Uja Bessanese
Cresta dell’Ometto (II – III) and Via Rosenkrantz (III – IV+) to Uja di Mondrone
Cresta Est to Ciamarella

The ice routes (March – end of May):
Parete N of Ciamarella
Parete NO of Punta Chalanson
Couloir NE to Rocce Russelle
Couloir of Punta Rosenkrantz to Rocce Pareis
Couloir della Dentina to Rocce Pareis