Italy, Apennines Summit Corno Grande, Part 1-Episode 46

Описание: A small Italian mountain that turns out to be a monster. My goal is to summit the south face solo in October. Bad weather and a lack of proper respect leave me in an ice cave for the night and the next day gets even worse. Corno Grande is the largest mountain in the Grand Sasso range of Italy's Apennines. Mountains that produce constant bad weather and other surprises.

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Summit Corno Grande Part 1 Video Details

In the fall of 2007 I set out for what I though would be a simple mountain adventure.

I crossed the Adriatic sea to reach Italy, the home of a small mountain (small by Himalayan standards that is).

My objective was to summit Corno Grande, the largest mountain of the Grand Sasso, in the Apennine range.

At the ski village of Funuvia I followed the gondola to reach the plateau of Campo Imperatore.

Half way up I noticed the gondola was undergoing pre-season maintenance.

A gondola ride would have saved me half a day of hiking.

By 1pm I'd reached the deserted Campo (the plateau).

Every Refugio was closed. Turns out they all closed in September.

The trail higher, from Campo, was well marked, but the low clouds were a major problem.

The wind was howling and the trail behind me was just visible.

Ahead the trail entered fog and clouds.

After 3 pm I became concerned about the time.

4 o‘clock was my turnaround time.

I hoped the trail split was up there somewhere.

By 4pm I was in trouble. I needed to find shelter.

I found a sign that pointed the way to an emergency hut.

By 5pm I knew I wasn't going to find the emergency hut.

After another 3 hours of struggling in the rocks I found a small cave that offered shelter for the night.

I was in a cave. I couldn’t find the refuge and was soaked and cold. I thought I could move my toes but really can’t tell.


I was in a cave for the night.

The Next Morning

It had snowed all night and I knew I had to get off this mountain, but to do that I needed visibility.

I set out at 7:30 am searching for a way down. At some point I’d slipped & tumbled down the slope. I was tired and despondent. And lost!

The wind caught me, froze me. I gave up. I called for help. I called Sara, who called mountain rescue.

Four more hours later I made it back to the trail. It was a bear in the cliffs. I’d given up and slid down and then tumbled, hit rocks and ended up buried in snow.

One hour from Gondola I just found the tail, so I knew where I was. And I’d texted Sara to say “I’m safe.”

Late in the day I reached Campo. Where the gondola workers spotted me,
took me in, gave food, a hot shower and a warm bed.

Yeah, these guys saved my life.

End of my 1st Attempt.