Sosto + Piz Terri

Yet another weekend with great mountain conditions, this is starting to get exhausting! This time, I drove together with David to the Valle di Blenio, where we planned a weekend of mountain fun with an overnight stay in the winter quarters of the Capanna Motterascio.

Day 1
Passo Muazz - Sosto - Passo Muazz
2h30, 550m ascent, 550m descent, T5+

We have picked the Sosto as a warm-up summit. Though lower than most surrounding mountains, the Sosto is one of the most iconic summits in the area, rising like a little Matterhorn above the village of Olivone. We expected to start hiking at the Luzzone Dam, but in fact the road is public all the way to the Passo Muazz. The drive up here is an experience on its own. We drive through the dam in a tunnel, then up a steep, narrow road with tight hairpins and finally through another long, narrow tunnel.

Starting the hike at the Passo Muazz has one disadvantage: the (unmarked) path onto the Sosto immediately starts climbing very steeply. The muscles in my calves soon start complaining about the brutal start. Other than that, the ascent is quick and unproblematic until slightly past P. 2103. The terrain changes dramatically for the final 60 metres of ascent to the summit. You have to find a way through the steep north-east face, which consists of scree, plates and brittle slate. There are some traces visible and a few small cairns near the summit, but finding the best route is still a hard-to-solve mystery. The ascent is tricky enough as it is, and when you get away from the ideal route (which will almost inevitably happen) the terrain quickly gets even hairier. All in all a rather unpleasant T5+. The reward comes from the spectacular summit views and from the nice little ridge connecting the north summit with the south summit (with cross). But is this enough to compensate for the rather nasty final ascent? I'm not so sure.

Lago di Luzzone - Capanna Motterascio
2h30, 650m ascent, 100m descent, T2-T3

After driving back down to the Luzzone dam (with its vertigo-inducing climbing wall, the world's tallest at 165m!), we start walking through a tunnel and along the Luzzone lake. In fact, the road here is also open to traffic until the Garzott alp. After Garzott, an exposed traverse above a canyon is made even more spectacular by the low water level in the reservoir. Having crossed the first of three footbridges, the path starts climbing towards the Motterascio hut. The ascent is continuously scenic and goes by quickly.

The Capanna "Michela" Motterascio consists of an old hut with a modern extension. Almost the whole old part is open as Winterraum, with the exception of the bathrooms which have been locked. We have these luxurious winter quarters all to ourselves. I don't think that I have ever slept so well in an SAC hut!

Day 2
Capanna Motterascio - Piz Terri - Capanna Mottersacio - Lago di Luzzone
7h, 1150m ascent, 1700m descent, T4 / I (in current conditions: PD- / WS-)

The weather forecast has been uncertain, but looking out in the first morning light, the weather looks promising, so we decide to attempt the Piz Terri. On the white-blue-white path to the saddle at P. 2745, there is almost no snow at all. However, the northerly ascent from the saddle to P. 2898 offers proper winter conditions. David, less experienced with crampons and ice axe, decides to stay behind while I go for the summit.

A chimney at P. 2898 is normally the crux of the route. The steep ascent in the snow to P. 2898 is no problem with crampons and ice axe. The short, exposed traverse to the bottom of the chimney is much trickier. There are no good steps and everything is iced over. The chimney itself is dry and comparatively easy to scramble up and down, as long as you stay on the right hand side of the chimney in the upper part. Of course, that's exactly what I don't do, so I get rather hampered by snow blocking the exit of the chimney on the left hand side...

From P. 2898 to the Piz Terri summit, there is a more-or-less obvious path that stays just south of the ridge. The path is almost completely free of snow, but my crampons still do a good job on the frozen, scree-covered ground. The wind, which was quite strong at the saddle, is much quieter up here; as pleasant surprise. Quicker than expected, I find myself on the summit. At 3149m in November; incredible! But the weather is moving in a little and David is waiting, so I don't hang around for long.

On our way down, we encounter two mountaineers on their way up to Piz Terri. There's a larger group at the Capanna Motterascio and one man walking his dogs along the Luzzone reservoir. That's all. It must be a lot busier here in summer. The chamois seem to be satisfied with the quiet autumn atmosphere, and so are we. I'm actually looking forward to some bad weather now, because this autumn has already offered more great hiking than even I could have wished for!