Via delle Bocchette - Day 2 - Bocchette Alte

We started the day with a discussion on which way to take up to the Bocca di Tuckett, as some of us were still undecided wether we wanted to tackle the snow field. In the end we chose to climb up the Sentiero Dellagiacoma again, to not risk slipping incidents on the other way. That added a few meters to our planned route for the day though.

Once we reached the plateau below the Cima Sella again, we could see that most of the other people that had left the hut with us were just reaching the Bocca di Tuckett. We still had to climb down the final part of the Sentiero Alfredo Benini, that we had skipped the day before. That included quite a few ladders, which took us another twenty minutes, so by the time we reached the col, we had the start of the via ferrata "Bocchette Alte" to ourselves.

From the col on the via ferrata started with a steep ascent. It was easy climbing, secured with the steel wire, and quite a few ladders. The first ascent ended on a plateau below the Cime Brenta at almost 3000m. From here the trail started to traverse diagonally across the Cime Brenta Massif along the “Cengia Gabari”, a system of horizontal ledges. While following the ledge, the ferrata is not continuously equipped with a steel rope and there’s some easy climbing (some of which unsecured) through rugged terrain.

At the end of the ledge there’s a bit of downclimbing and then the crossing of a channel that’s known to sometimes be filled with snow in the springtime. But there was no snow, instead we had oncoming traffic. This whole bit was a secured with an icon rope, and a bit exposed, so we had to each find good and safe spot to let the group pass.. That worked better than we had expected and so we soon got to continued on our way. The next section was another long walk along a ledge, mostly unsecured, leading us to the highest point of the route at the Spalla di Brenta at 3020m. There we took a short break, before continuing on.

The next bit took us first across a narrow ridge, unsecured, and then, once again secured by a steel wire, we climbed down some exposed and steep ladders and rugged rocks. Once we reached the col below we could already see the long ladder called “Scala degli Amici” (Ladder of Friends) leading up again on the other side towards the Spallone dei Massodi. After climbing up there, we crossed the plateau and then started yet another descent on the other side.

Here we had another decision to make. Either take the Sentiero Detassis that leads down to the valley in a series of ladders, or the Sentiero Umberto Quintavalle which is a little bit easier on the arms. We chose to take the second route, which first had us traverse a rock face, and then cross the Bocca del Massodi to reach the ladders leading up on the other side. After a short ascent and crossing a gravel plateau, the descent with some easy climbing took us down into the valley. From there it was just a 20 minute walk to the Rifugio Alimonta.

The Rifugio Alimonta is a private owned and operated hut (meaning not by one of the Alpine clubs) and was also pretty packed when we visited. Interestingly we were once again placed at one table with the same three polish guys that we had met the day before.