Summit Corno Grande the Hard Way, Italy, Combined Episodes 46-51

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.

Two years and five attempts and I can say... well watch the video and see.

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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.
Every refugio is closed, they all closed in September.
And the unattended ones are locked.
And it’s cold.
The trail from Campo was well marked, but the low clouds were a major problem.
The wind is howling and that’s the trail behind me.
It’s after 3 and I’m getting concerned about the time.
4 o clock is my turnaround time if things don’t get any better.
I’m hoping the trail split is up there.
By 4pm I was in trouble. I need to find shelter.
I found a sign that pointed the way to an emergency hut.
Looks like it’s up, up and away.
By 5pm I knew I wasn't going to find the hut.
After 3hrs of struggling in the rocks I found a small cave that offered shelter for the night.
I’m in a cave.
I could not find the refuge.
And I’m soaked and cold
I think I can move my toes but I really can’t tell.
It had snowed all night and I knew I had to get off this mountain.
But to do that I needed visibility.
Do I look as tired as I feel?
Despondent
And lost!
At some point I slipped & tumbled down the mountain
I made it back to the trail
It was difficult in the cliffs
I gave up and slid down
And then tumbled, hit rocks
And ended up buried in snow.
The wind caught me
Froze me
I gave up
I called for help
call for help, I called Sara
Who called mountain rescue
But I just found the tail
So I know where I am now
And I’ve texted her to say I’m safe
Late in the day I reached Campo where I was spotted by the gondola workers,
who took me in, gave food, a hot shower & a warm bed.
Yeah, you saved my life.
After the last attempt to summit Corno Grande
I had returned to Croatia to lick my wounds
& fortify my determination.
In this episode I re-trace my steps across the Adriatic
& hope for the clear skies promised by the weather forecasters.
This time I rented a car and took a direct route to Campo.
The goal was a fast one day Alpine assent.
Rather than hiking up to Campo
I drove the 22km winding back road.
By 1pm I was back on the trail above Campo.
Here we are, 1 o clock,
that’s the trail I came down
and the trail split
Near the mountain's base I spotted the emergency hut
I had failed to reach on my last attempt.
It was well to the east of the rock face I'd been stuck on.
I'd been luck to have found that cave.
And far to the west I spotted the face I'd fallen down.
That was the rock I hid behind when I gave up
Even now with good weather the footing was precarious\NRather than try the direct route I decided to skirt to the west a bit.
Crampons would have helped
We still have a way to go
As the afternoon wore on
I worked my way to the area
where I'd spent the night in on my first attempt.
I have a decision to make
In 10 minutes I’m going to reach trail 4
Where I went to find the cave
So do I tempt fate
And crawl back into the cave for the night
Then try the summit tomorrow
Or do I try for the summit now?
Choices, choices, choices
I will decide that the trail split
The summit is up there somewhere
I spotted the cave opening in the distance.
I was now at the base of the summit crown.
In the clouds again
That’s where I came up
It has taken a long time to do this short section
Suddenly I noticed the clouds and quickly lost sight of the summit.
As light faded I knew I'd been beaten again.
The score was Mountain 2, Livio 0
Read more at https://RealworldAdventures.com

Score:
Sony Cinescore created.