Punta del Pizzo and Cima di Altemberg

Last month I published the report of day one of my weekend in Italy, but part two (and arguably the best part!) was still missing. So here we go...

My CouchSurfing hosts works at the Ispra Joint Research Centre, a huge European Commission institution which even has its own section of the Italian Alpine Club! This section had planned a hike in Valstrona, which we joined. We were a large and diverse group of nearly 30 hikers of all ages, but surprisingly this didn't prove to be a problem. After parking in the village of Campello Monti at the end of the road in Valstrona, everybody made their way up to the pass of Bochetta di Rimmela at their own pace. There the group split into two, on half taking an easy way back down, and the other heading for Punta del Pizzo and and the Lago Capezzone. And then there were still plenty of possibilities for the really keen (well, mostly just me) do dash of and bag extra summits such as P. 2045 near Bocchetta di Rimella or the spectacular Cima di Altemberg.

The route: relatively straightforward from Campello Monti up to Bochetta di Rimmela - 600 meters of ascent, T2 I'd guess, though I'm still not completely used to these hiking grades.

P. 2045 is of no particular interest, though a nice man was just working to make the base for a cross in remembrance of WW II here, so that might be worth a visit in the future. The path from Bochetta di Rimella to P. 2045 is less clear and goes a little to the north of the ridge at one point, though even if you miss it, it's pretty easy to just make your own way up on the steep, grassy terrain.

The ridge from Bochetta di Rimella over Punta del Pizzo to Bochetta delle Vacche is not very difficult (about T3 I guess) yet spectacular and highly recommended. There is some confusion about the names of summits here. The main summit of Punta del Pizzo seems to be marked with with a large cross at 2232 meters. However, further along, at point 2277 according to the Geoportale Nationale, there is a sign which confusingly says "Punta del Pizzo 2232 m"... Strange... The main path bypasses point 2277 along the west: a rather narrow, slanted and crumbling path along a steep slope, much less enjoyable than the excellent ridge path earlier on point 2232. For those who are confident, I would recommend sticking to there ridge. There is no marked path here, and you need to scramble over some rocks, but it's not difficult (T5 at most I guess) and there is even a surprise in finding a couple of chains to help you reach the summit safely. You automatically join the main path again at Bochetta delle Vacche.

At Bochetta delle Vacche you can choose between descending to Lago Capezzone or first doing an ascent of Cima di Altemberg. Beware if you take the second option. There are several trails that seem to stick to the ridge leading to Cima di Altemberg, but all of these are dead ends or lead into very difficult terrain. The main path (T3) first descends annoyingly far down, until finally a marked path goes left and climbs again towards Cima di Altemberg. Cima di Altemberg has an interesting 3-dimensional cross, a summit log book, and a spectacular panoramic view. You have to take the same path up and down, but that's a small price to pay for such a view. Highly recommended.

Then the descent from Lago Capezzone down to Campello Monti is straigth-forward again - T2.

In summary, a very enjoyable day. Nice company from the JRC alpine club section, but also the possibility to dash off and do a few more challenging summits by myself. Absolutely perfect weather (only Monte Rosa in the distance had some clouds shrouding it, but we were in the sun the whole time) and magnificent scenery and an easy but delightful ridge.

I was then dropped at the railway station at Stresa to take the train back to Zürich. The Sunday evening EuroCity train was packed with posh women bringing back their shopping from a weekend in Milan; I felt quite out of place in my hiking gear. Luckily at Brig I had to change trains, and at the next stop in Visp suddenly all the outdoors enthusiasts coming back from the Zermatt and Saas valleys boarded the train to Bern. Much more my kind of crowd :).