Dalmazzi

Friday night and the Pash served up the weekend plan. A mix platter of alpine style climbing lightly chilled on a bed of glaciated ice. Al was also in for the ride and so with the recipe in place we left together the very same evening for deepest Val d'Aosta.

Quietly tucked away at it's head Val Ferret offers great views of Mont Blanc. I had previously only seen it under winter cover so it was strange to drive along the same road that I had skied on. The night was chilly. Since my sleeping bag was at the cleaners I was using a silk liner and a wool shawl from Ikea. Al was prepared as ever, it was the second time I had camped with him. This time he had invested in a sleeping mat but was still sleeping under his reliable towel.

The morning was bright and the sun soon warmed things up, even at 7 in the morning. Fortunately the cafe next to the camp site opened early, fortunate because unlike the yoghurt guzzling Pash we didn't have any food.

We left the car as far up the valley as we could, put our packs on our backs and marched towards the Dalmazzi Rifugio. The walk was very pleasant, taking first a gentle track along a glacial feature before a steep gully brought us to the rifugio. In all it took us 2 hours. Leaving what we could at the hut, we continued to the base of our climb just a few hundred metres distant, the Monts Rouges de Triolet.

The rock was a pink granite from which the peak obviously must draw its name. It overlooked the glacier and was faced by impressive north facing cliffs, and above the glacier the Augille Savoie. Our chosen route for the day was short, just 4 pitches but of good quality, the rock solid. We climbed as two pairs but descended together. It was hot, climbing as we were under a strong sun. The weather was just perfect, there was not a cloud in the sky. We then climbed a small slab on the left of our route which was enjoyable and a bit more difficult than the route we had already done. By now we were cooked, so we retreated to find some shade at the rifugio.

The rifugio had just been reconstructed. It was nice enough but lacked any real atmosphere. The food was good (except for the dry bread which we nevertheless devoured) and with a glass of wine we were in bed by 9 ready for big Sunday.

Big sunday started early and we ate more of the dry bread delicately topped with marmalade. Already the sun was flooding the valley but happily we were to find our climb was in the shade for most of the day. 'Les chamois volants' is a climb of 18 pitches on easy ground and protected for its length with bolts. The climbing was enjoyable and it took a little over 4 hours to complete. From the summit we had grand views of the Grande Capucin, Grand Paradiso and the summit of the Grandes Jorrasses.

The decent was not to be such an enjoyable experience, even though we reduced it to 10 abseils. It was over not so steep and sometimes loose ground. It took 4 of us 6 hours, lucky for us the weather held out.

Arriving back at the rifugio I noticed I had left my rock shoes at the foot of the crag. I still not sure if I am more relieved than annoyed. Good ridence to them. We made good time back down the path to the valley, and headed straight for Courmayer for a pizza and a beer. Tired, and wishing we could stay longer we had to drive home to Milan and the heat.