From Monte Brè to Lavertezzo – a foggy affair

My plan was to follow the peaks and ridges between the Maggia and Verzasca valley from Monte Brè all the way to Madom da Sgiòf. The weather forecast for this day wasn’t all that bad and because I was in the Ticino already, I wanted to prolong my stay for at least another day, especially since the forecast for northern Switzerland was rather bad. I was looking forward to a nice sunny day, but unfortunately I hardly saw the sun all day long. Most of this hike I’ve done before so the fog wasn’t a real problem for my orientation, but as all of you know the view in the mountains is kind of unsatisfactory if you only see a few meters.

After spending the night at a friends house in Monte Brè, I walked up to Cardada and Cimetta (there are numerous marked paths - just pick one or find your own). I then continued to Cima della Trosa. Here I started realizing that maybe the fog might kind of spoil this hike, because when looking towards Madone I saw low hanging clouds already, in addition the fog was rolling in from Locarno too. I still hoped the sun will "burn away" the fog, so I continued to Madone (not along the paths, but diretissima along the ridge). The situation on Madone wasn’t any better: mostly foggy and the visibility almost zero. Once in a while there was a short intermezzo and I actually could see down to the Maggia valley or to my next goal.

I continued along the Passo del Lupo to P. 1908 where for a short time the sun was actually shining and I could study the south flank of Pizzo d’Orgnana. For my way up to the summit (see this picture) I chose the obvious groove about half the way up, then on its western rim up to the East Ridge and from there along the ridge to the summit (T4). As soon as I arrived on the summit I was back in the washhouse with almost no visibility and a rather cold wind started to blow.

So instead of going further to Cima di Nimi and Madom da Sgiòf, like I originally planned, I decided to go down to Lavertezzo instead. For my way down to Bocchetta di Orgnana I followed the east ridge to the rocks and went down the groove to the point where a white/blue/white marked path goes to the Bocchetta. This path and route are rated a T5 in the book "Gipfelziele im Tessin" by Daniel Anker, I personally would only rate this a T4. It crosses the south flank of Pizzo d’Orgnana about half way up and gets to the regular path a little below the Bocchetta.

From the Bocchetta I didn’t really feel like going down to Lavertezzo already, especially since it cleared up a little bit again. So I decided to also visit Pizzo di Corbella. From the Bocchetta there is no path directly up to the summit, but if you follow the north ridge it is pretty easy (T4). Unfortunately, the short intermezzo of less fog was over and that’s when I definitely decided to not go on any other peaks. On the way down from Pizzo di Corbella towards Orgnana, I actually found some old white/red/white marks here and there.

What followed was a rather long and steep path all the way down to the Verzasca valley. The path is well marked and maintained and doesn’t pose any real difficulties - except that my knees didn’t really appreciate all this.

The Ponte dei Salti in Lavertezzo is worth visiting. A whole bunch of tourists though so too. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t really any better here either and so I took the bus and train home.


Monte Brè – Cardada – Cimetta – Cima della Trosa – P.1723 – Madone – Passo del Lupo – P. 1908 - Pizzo d’Orgnana - Bocchetta di Orgnana - Pizzo di Corbella – Orgnana – Lavertezzo