Three days ski touring in Valpelline with Frank and Antoine: Pointe Kurz, Tête de Valpelline, welcoming Italian huts and a retreat in worsening weather.
Barely back from a wild week in the Ortles massif, another discovery awaits me with Frank and Antoine: Valpelline, where we’ll spend three days ski touring and leapfrogging between Switzerland’s Valais and Italy’s Val d’Aoste... Borders that are easier to cross up there than on the road!
Frank, Antoine and I are well past our first outings together. Everything clicks! We already have a few fine adventures under our belts, and trust and good company are firmly established! Which helps us take little surprises in our stride, like finding the road closed 4 km earlier than expected!
Day 1: a long approach and a warm welcome at the refuge Nacamuli
The first day’s result: a long approach to Prarayer, then on to the refuge Nacamuli, where we’re almost guaranteed solitude... Antoine and I carry on above the hut to loosen up our legs on some first-class spring snow, after a less successful attempt in a couloir towards Pointe Kurz!
The welcome from Petro and Cesare at Nacamuli is worth the journey... The decidedly intermittent phone line makes any attempt to book rather hit-and-miss... So the cheerful, laid-back wardens welcome us on the spot, having been convinced they wouldn’t see anyone for several days (which clearly doesn’t bother them!).
Here, it’s the warden who asks you about the weather! Or offers to join you the next day (provided you don’t get up too early)! And whips up a perfect risotto in no time (as a starter, naturally), singing at the top of his voice in the kitchen... Now that’s hospitality! A world away from the rather too commercial concerns of some hut wardens.
Day 2: Pointe Kurz and Tête de Valpelline, between Switzerland and Italy
Today we make a little foray into Switzerland! We climb Pointe Kurz, a subsidiary summit of Mont Brulé, on easy slopes that steepen towards the top, where skis have to go on our packs. Not a soul around us. Nearby peaks appear and disappear with the clouds’ unpredictable dance. The atmosphere and changing light provide the day’s entertainment.
We spend a few moments weighing up the descent options, all tempting... Finally, we choose the Swiss side to reach the Haut Glacier d’Arolla. After a wind-scoured start, riding over sastrugi, we drop below the Œil de la Vierge onto excellent powder slopes... No complaints from us! Lovely turns follow one another, and our whoops break the perfect silence of these high mountains!
We put our skins back on to cross the glacier and reach col Brulé. We feel very small and very alone in the Alps today. A luxury we savour in silence after the excitement of the descent!
A restorative break at col Brulé... A cloud has settled over Tête de Valpelline and Dent d’Hérens. The scenery is keeping us in suspense! Meanwhile, we’ve crossed back into Italy... And lovely powder awaits on the short descent onto the Haut Glacier de Tsa de Tsan, a name straight out of a mythological tale...
By now, the cloud has drifted away. Rather than descending straight to the refuge Aosta, we treat ourselves to an extra 500 m of climbing to Tête de Valpelline... An exceptional viewpoint, taking in some of the Alps’ highest and most prestigious peaks at a glance: Dent d’Hérens, Cervin, Dent Blanche, Zinalrothorn, Obergabelhorn, Weisshorn, the whole gang of 4,000-metre peaks around Saas-Fee, and more!
We stay up there for a little while, letting the beauty around us sink in... before skiing down towards col de la Division, first over wind-scoured slopes (still quite pleasant to ski), then through some good patches of powder.
An alpine interlude takes us below col de la Division, with crampons and ice axes required, before we glide down to the refuge Aosta on increasingly variable snow.
Diego and his mother give us a colourful, warm welcome, without having known we were coming: telecommunications aren’t this area’s strong point! Tonight, we share the hut with a friendly group of four led by Guillaume, a young French guide we’ll team up with tomorrow.
The evening follows much the same pattern as the last: hydration, first with herbal tea, then beer, followed by a hearty feast of carbohydrates, made in Italy. Fortunately, Diego’s génépi is there to help it all down!
Day 2: Pointe Kurz and Tête de Valpelline, between Switzerland and Italy
Today we make a little foray into Switzerland! We climb Pointe Kurz, a subsidiary summit of Mont Brulé, on easy slopes that steepen towards the top, where skis have to go on our packs. Not a soul around us. Nearby peaks appear and disappear with the clouds’ unpredictable dance. The atmosphere and changing light provide the day’s entertainment.
We spend a few moments weighing up the descent options, all tempting... Finally, we choose the Swiss side to reach the Haut Glacier d’Arolla. After a wind-scoured start, riding over sastrugi, we drop below the Œil de la Vierge onto excellent powder slopes... No complaints from us! Lovely turns follow one another, and our whoops break the perfect silence of these high mountains!
We put our skins back on to cross the glacier and reach col Brulé. We feel very small and very alone in the Alps today. A luxury we savour in silence after the excitement of the descent!
A restorative break at col Brulé... A cloud has settled over Tête de Valpelline and Dent d’Hérens. The scenery is keeping us in suspense! Meanwhile, we’ve crossed back into Italy... And lovely powder awaits on the short descent onto the Haut Glacier de Tsa de Tsan, a name straight out of a mythological tale...
By now, the cloud has drifted away. Rather than descending straight to the refuge Aosta, we treat ourselves to an extra 500 m of climbing to Tête de Valpelline... An exceptional viewpoint, taking in some of the Alps’ highest and most prestigious peaks at a glance: Dent d’Hérens, Cervin, Dent Blanche, Zinalrothorn, Obergabelhorn, Weisshorn, the whole gang of 4,000-metre peaks around Saas-Fee, and more!
We stay up there for a little while, letting the beauty around us sink in... before skiing down towards col de la Division, first over wind-scoured slopes (still quite pleasant to ski), then through some good patches of powder.
An alpine interlude takes us below col de la Division, with crampons and ice axes required, before we glide down to the refuge Aosta on increasingly variable snow.
Diego and his mother give us a colourful, warm welcome, without having known we were coming: telecommunications aren’t this area’s strong point! Tonight, we share the hut with a friendly group of four led by Guillaume, a young French guide we’ll team up with tomorrow.
The evening follows much the same pattern as the last: hydration, first with herbal tea, then beer, followed by a hearty feast of carbohydrates, made in Italy. Fortunately, Diego’s génépi is there to help it all down!
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