MonteRosa - Gressoney, Alagna, Champoluc - Season 2014
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ExpertLuca op 9 January 2014 · 12:14This is a thread where to write about your lines in MonteRosa.
I can share with you what i did last week-end with my friends. On sunday weather wasn't so good so we started with a Balma waiting for the sun to come out. Nice snow but not extraordinary. After 11 clouds disappeared so we hit Malfatta (for those who have polvere Rosa check page 228) rope and harness needed to descend the first part!!
In the afternoon we skinned up to Passo zube (page 244) and skied the Val d'Otro (238) nice snow and breathtaking view.
But the epic day was yet to come. On Monday we hit Punta Vittoria N face (page 230) that's extreme skiing, so if you would like to try that I suggest you to hire a guide!! And maybe before going there check with him your skiing and mountaineering skills. To enter the face we had to use 50m of rope to pass a big snow frame. the very first part is really tricky (lots of rocks) and steep (65 degrees) but it's only a traverse to enter the face itself. The face is beautiful not extremely steep (50-45° then 40) but it's super exposed over two big cliffs (400m jump). The snow was perfect, deep fluffy powder but highly coesive, so there were no fractures in the snow; just little sluffs. After the face you follow the valley till Alagna. Powder everywhere and 1300m of vertical drop. Amazing.
in the afternoon we split up and I went with a friend of mine to ski a couloir under Indren's gondola. we used a rope to go in but it was good also to climb down... it's just 3 or 4 meters of rocks then powder.
conclusion: a really great day, one of the best i've ever had!
if someone has any question just ask
you can find more photos and infos about this trip there
http://lucazattoni.altervista.org/Luca_Zattoni/Victory.html...
See you! -
Advancedtelemikey op 9 January 2014 · 12:54That's some serious skiing there Luca! I'm a little surprised, being a dutch desk jockey that lines like this are possible at the moment. Just about everything I hear is doom and gloom, snowpack wise!
Good to see you guys getting out there. -
ExpertLuca op 9 January 2014 · 13:03yes there has been a lot of accidents already this winter, but we are trying to do some serious lines anyway... this face is completely north exposed so no chances to find crusted snow or week layers due to the sun. wind was blocked by the frame at the top and we waited two days for the new snow to adjust, so the situation was pretty much ok.
i think that now the real danger is in big open faces exposed to the sun and to the wind where the snow has little cohesion and big layers could break. in fact most of the incident occurred in that situation. luckily temperatures are dropping so i hope the snowpack will stabilize -
AdvancedKlasRydstrand op 9 January 2014 · 14:19Thanks for sharing [mention="/profile/8654"]@Luca[/mention] ! I remember you mentioned people being killed in the Monte Rosa area the last couple of weeks. We never heard anything about that during our stay. Sad, but do you have more info on what happened? I'm surprised it didn't make the news or even the local word of mouth in the bars... -
ExpertLuca op 9 January 2014 · 14:21@KlasRydstrand i think there has been a misunderstanding... some people died in valle d'aosta but not in gressoney or alagna! we had some avalanches but no one got hurt or buried!
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AdvancedKlasRydstrand op 9 January 2014 · 14:31Alright, thanks for clarifying @Luca Where in the Aosta valley was it?
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ExpertLuca op 9 January 2014 · 15:22I'm not sure but I think Pila
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AdvancedKlasRydstrand op 9 January 2014 · 15:24
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Touristpowdertiger op 9 January 2014 · 22:08Luca, thanks for giving us an idea of the situation and congratulations for your great tours.
Malfatta: On the photo with Frederico it's looking possible to slide down with skis of foot. Above/ below not?
Another question: at the end in Valsesia there is a roofed bridge over the river Sesia, behind you have to walk up a little bit. Is it possible/ adviseable not to use the bridge followed be the road but to ski down the forrest on the ride hand side as described in Polvere Rosa #1? -
ExpertLuca op 9 January 2014 · 23:07@powdertiger as for Malfatta you can climb down with crampons if you have them but by now it's impossible to ski the upper part because of the sharks hidden by 2cm of snow.... otherwise i would have skied the small couloir or to the right
as for the bridge i think you're referring to the pastore when you have to walk up a bit and then follow the path... i usually go for the bridge.. i tried to go in the woods but it's really messy and with little snow... you'll just destroy your skis/snowboard i think! Anyway last week i reached the bus stop skis on foot so you don't have to walk!! -
Touristpowdertiger op 10 January 2014 · 23:28@Luca
Thank you for the information. Yes, I was referring to the pastore. So I will take the path/road as before. -
ExpertLuca op 13 January 2014 · 12:36
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Advancedtelemikey op 13 January 2014 · 20:55This week a first descent in gressoney
More infos coming soon!
www.lucazattoni.com Luca op 13 Jan 2014 12:36 PM
Not fair! GIve us some more info, a few pics. Come on, you can't do this to your wePowder mates...
(Awesome. Well done. Can't wait to see more) -
ExpertLuca op 13 January 2014 · 22:55i can post a photo of the line! it's the tiny couloir in the middle
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Advancedtelemikey op 14 January 2014 · 07:24Niiiiice. Skiing down a fault line. Makes a geologists heart beat just that much faster!
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ExpertLuca op 14 January 2014 · 10:57My friend David mounted the video of punta Vittoria. Enjoy!
http://wepowder.com/forum/topic/90185 -
ExpertLuca op 14 January 2014 · 13:50here last week end runs!
http://lucazattoni.altervista.org/Luca_Zattoni/Artva_%26_Bagnino.html... -
ExpertChester_Tartsnatcher op 14 January 2014 · 15:16Alagna wouldn't be what it is with public transportation access.
What are the public accesses to Gressoney? Train to Biella then what? -
Advanced49 op 14 January 2014 · 19:02About 30cm of freshies in Gressoney today: these woods are our woods 😉
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ExpertLuca op 14 January 2014 · 19:49Great!!
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AdvancedArjen op 14 January 2014 · 23:08Awesome! -
AdvancedKlasRydstrand op 15 January 2014 · 11:30I'm happy for you @49 I hope the snow stays cold down to La Trinite' - fantastic runs over there!
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Advanced49 op 15 January 2014 · 21:19@klasRydstrand thanks, that's where the picture was taken!
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AdvancedKlasRydstrand op 23 February 2014 · 23:33What have you been up to lately @49 and @Luca ? I haven't seen any updates from you since we left Alagna in the beginning of January. This Sunday we'll come for a third week but this time we stay in Gressoney. What is the status of the snow now? Seems like you have had some nice conditions! All your advice is welcome! Take care.
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ExpertLuca op 24 February 2014 · 07:40[mention="/profile/8653"]@KlasRydstrand[/mention] lately i had some exams so i didn't skied lot... snow's fine but temperatures are really high... it has rained till 2400 meters last week...
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Advanced49 op 24 February 2014 · 10:29@KlasRydstrand,@luca means: rained
More than enough snow. Temperature lowered quality quite a bit. Sahara sand in the last layer, which could potentially form a weak layer. Snow expected for the weekend but quantities unsure (depends if Genua depression and retour d'est are formed or not). -
AdvancedKlasRydstrand op 24 February 2014 · 11:18
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Advanced49 op 24 February 2014 · 17:02@KlasRydstrand it is not that bad, but we have been spoiled early on in the season, so perhaps a bit more critical than necessary 😉
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ExpertLuca op 26 February 2014 · 16:37Last week end run!
http://lucazattoni.altervista.org/Luca_Zattoni/One_Lucky_Day.html... -
AdvancedKlasRydstrand op 26 February 2014 · 16:50Wow, some drama there @Luca Good thing everything turned out alright! Nice photos by the way; what camera are you are using?
