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The Story of a 100-Year-Old Forgotten Hut Atop an Imposing North Face in The Alps

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Approaching the summit of Gran Zebrù with friends few weeks ago.

As time flies, history is forgotten yet some of the old stories spring to life again in the most unusual places…

One such fascinating story came to light a couple of years ago on Gran Zebrù (Königspitze) – 3851m mountain in northern Italy – where the Austrian and Italian armies clashed during the World War I.

After decades of hiding, an old military hut emerged from under ice and snow right below the summit of this grand peak in the Ortler Alps.

Find the red dot… that’s where the hut is pinned to the imposing 1100-metre north face of Gran Zebrù. Photo by Svíčková.

Lots of the World War I was fought in high mountains and is historically known as the White War.

To gain an edge on the enemy, one of best ways was to occupy high ground so they could see what the enemy was doing on the other side and to attack them from above. Towering peaks on the borders of the two countries were exactly the places both sides wanted to control.

While the hut has been increasingly peeking out for the last 25 years, the “discovery” was broadcasted to wider masses only in 2015, after the structure was studied by an Italian archaeological group.

The team studying the hut, including 3D mapping. Photo by Luca Bezzi on September 8, 2015.

And here is a loosely translated account from the war on Gran Zebrù:

When in the spring of 1917 Austrian patrols found out from their lookouts that the Italians were preparing to occupy the Gran Zebrù, raising men and materials high, it caused an alarming panic among the Tyroleans. Such a strategic position would easily provide the enemy with an overview of the maneuvers of their forces.

In May 1917, with a frantic race, the Austrians managed to settle on that very important peak. General Baron von Leuprecht made the climb with two officers and their soldiers who bivouacked in small tents and holes in the snow for several days.

At the top of the couloir, a deep trench protected by barbed wire was excavated. Just 150 meters from the Austrians, the Italians had clung firmly with two machine guns on a high ridge of the same mountain.

There were many actions to drive the Austrians from the top, and vice versa with several deaths on both sides, but until the end of the war it remained in Austrian hands. They fortified it more and more, also endowing it with a hand cable-car, until it became a formidable fortress in their hands.

Skiing Gran Zebrù (Königspitze): 3851m Tall Pyramid in Ortler Cevedale Group – Alps, Italy

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Gran Zebru to my left with with its famous north-west ridge, Suldengrat. You can’t see here our ski route (on the right and behind) but this is one of the most spectacular views of this mountain.

Since the country-wide coronavirus lockdown ended here in Italy the conditions have be great for spring ski mountaineering… and so another alluring peak was ticked off my never ending wish list.

Proudly towering above its surrounding valleys, Gran Zebrù creates an instant feeling of respect and admiration. It truly is a grand mountain that moves you.

With a beautiful summit ridge, big east face and a couloir at the bottom, Gran Zebrù offers an amazing ski mountaineering experience on its south-east route.

Location and Access

To start your day, drive about 20min east of Bormio (Valtellina, Italy) to Santa Caterina di Valfurva and take a left fork to reach parking at Rifugio Forni (2100m) about 15min further. This area for ski touring is generally known as “Forni” and this parking lot is a starting point for many tours in the area.

Then follow trail signs to Rifugio Pizzini (2706m) either on skis or hiking – this can take 1,5-2h depending on conditions. This valley is south facing so you will likely need to hike majority of the trail/road by late May but usually it’s possible to skin up from the bottom until late April.

Don’t plan to drive over famous Passo Stelvio (top of map) between November and late May as the road is closed.

The whole ascent from parking lot to the top of the mountain is just under 1700m, so doable in a day, but given the east exposure of Gran Zebru’s upper big face and south exposure for the bottom couloir you should strive to summit by around 9-10am.

Also, consider that in spring conditions you will be climbing up with crampons and an ice axe for about 700m so the progress will be slower. With that, I recommend to stay at the Rifugio Pizzini at still start around 5-6am to cover the 1100m to the top.

The ascent and skiing on Gran Zebrù (Königspitze)

There are multiple routes you can choose from to ascend this mountain but for skiing the traditional south-east route is most appropriate as it is without much technical climbing or skiing. Still, majority of skiing will be on slopes around 40 degrees, with 45 only at the very top.

Skinning just passed the Pizzi hut with a view of the route: From the summit, follow the lit up slopes of the east glacier and then drop down the slim couloir. On the way up, we went left of the big rocky bulge and we skied to the right of it on the way down.

You will be skinning up gentle slopes the first hour (about 400m) beyond the hut, only steepening as you approach the bottom of the couloir. From there we put on boot crampons and kept them all the way to the summit, however, it’s possible that conditions might allow you to skin up some of the big east face, perhaps February to April.

Looking south-east towards the big glacier on Mount Cevedale. We were at about 3700m at this point.

As you can see on the photo above, there is a big wide convexity on the big slopes of the east glacier so observe the snow conditions carefully as it is an easy spot for the wind to load.

Half way down from the hut and looking south towards Punta San Mateo in the centre and Tresero on the very right.

The next photo is from a mountain guide, Eraldo Meraldi, and the dashed line shows an ascent via west couloir (around 450m and 50 degrees) if you want to do a loop. The solid line shows our way. The small photo shows two variations at the top – we went up the left way and skied down the right on that follows the ridge longer. On the big glacier we went up and skied more in the centre than his line shows.

When you are in the area in the spring then definitely consider Gran Zebrù as on of your more challenging objectives. For less mountaineering and more ski touring you can go up Punta San Mateo or Tresero, starting at the same parking lot.

Ski Touring Paradise: Four Alluring Peaks in One Valley – Val Cantone di Dosde, Valtellina, Italy

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There are many excellent ski touring places in Italy but to find four such beautiful peaks, each with 1000m descent, in one small valley makes Val Cantone di Dosde literally a ski mountaineer’s paradise… I found it this May!

The four peaks a skier should be interested in are Pizzo Dosde, Cima Lago Spalmo, Cima Viola, Cima Saoseo – all just around 3300m in altitude. The valley floor is at about 2100m.

Location and Access

To start your day, drive about 25min west of Bormio, on the road to Livigno, and park at Arnoga at 1850m – see map below.

Approach to Val Cantone di Dosde leads through a more famous Val Viola valley that offers hikers, bikers and skiers a variety of options and amazing views in every season.

Val Viola is your access point and easiest to reach from Bormio or Livigno.

There are seasonal restrictions when you can drive in Val Viola and in the winter the approach on skis will be quite long. However, by May the restrictions are lifted and so your can drive further with a permit or you can hike or bike the first 7-8km before you turn south (or left) to Val Cantone di Dosde. Elevation gain for this approach is only about 250m.

An interesting point is that a hut in this valley – Rifugio Federico Dosde – is operated by Adriano Greco, the famous ski mountaineering racing legend. I had the pleasure to me him during on of my days. However, as all other huts it is closed usually from October to March.

Notice on the left that Val Viola crosses over to Switzerland. The skiing is all in Italy in Val Cantone di Dosde.

Pizzo Dosde, 3280m – South Slopes

This peak offers excellent panoramic views as it stands alone. The upper south slopes ski well in spring snow and most likely also mid-winter.

The ascent is not difficult or steep, and possible to do all on skis, however, you will need to pay attention to slopes above and also read the terrain well to find the safest and an efficient route.

I went up and down the same way but I didn’t ski all the way to the valley as I continued onto another excellent peak, Cima Lago Spalmo.

I did the very left red route to ascent Pizzo Dosde then ski down behind the big bulging rock, left of center, and ascended a short couloir to continue up the north glacier of Spalmo. If you are going just to Spalmo you can follow the middle red ascent route or my green descent.
Excellent views of the other 3 peaks in this valley from top of Dosde! You can see the short couloir I went up and onto the north glacier of Cima Lago Spalmo, with my descent in green.
View of my ascent route on Pizzo Dosde as seen from Cima Lago Spalmo.

Cima Lago Spalmo, 3291m – Skiing North Glacier

While this peak also offers great views skiing its north slopes and glacier are its biggest attraction! The true peak is hidden further behind a small pyramid that you will see from the valley as you approach.

Repeating the photos from above for reference…

As you can see, the ascent is up fairly steep and on big slopes on a glacier, however, I was able to skin up most of the way. Crevasses were well covered even in this low snow year (north aspect and high elevation).

There are a variety of high quality descent options, just choose appropriately for the current conditions and time of day.

Cima Saoseo, 3264m – East and North Slopes

Once atop, you will be standing on the Italian-Swiss border. Thankfully, there are no customs officers, just amazing views to the west!

Looking to the west and into Switzerland from Cima Saoseo (3264m), with 4050m high Pizzo Bernina in the background – the most eastern 4000m peak in the Alps. Below is Val da Camp valley.

To ascent this peak you will make a sharp right below the slopes of Cima Lago Spalmo and continue up a long flat valley before you begin the true ascent. There is no glacier on this peak.

My skin track in red and a variation on the descent in green. The summit is still quite far behind the horizon. To the left and not in the photo is Cima Viola.
I boot-packed a short section to gain the shoulder but it’s likely duable on skins mid-winter. For my descent, I chose a steeper line.
Looking south over the summit cross of Saoseo.

Cima Viola, 3374m – North-West Glacier and Slopes

The highest peak of the four and also the one with most descent options, non of them easy and some fairly extreme.

Cima Viola is also the most complex of the four mountains due to route finding and overall hazards. My photos of the peak from Saoseo helped me choose the best option couple of days later.

My ascent route going up mostly on the west side of Cima Viola and then down the north ridge off the summit before reconnecting with my ascent track. Notice the beautiful ramp traversing from right to left which has an exit to the valley via a steep 200m couloir that is hidden on the very left.
Switching from skinning with ski crampons to boot crampons and back is probably a usual exercise on Cima Viola. You can see that it is possible to ascend or ski the more direct lines from the summit, however, there are many more hazards.
Looking north and marveling over the long traversing ramp on Cima Viola.

When to Ski Here

While I skied in this valley only in May I believe the snow must be excellent all winter!

The terrain is complex but also open enough, and with many options, that an intermediate experienced ski tourer should be able to find great turns and stay safe at any time of the year.

If you have questions, send me a message via SkinTrack’s Facebook page.

Freedom Skiing In Valtellina: 5 Peaks In 3 Days As Italian Coronavirus Lockdown Eased

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Following a spectacular ridge on Pizzo Canciano (3103m) with Martina Pini. The three-peaks of Cima Papa (3197m) in the middle were next on our menu. We skipped the familiar Pizzo Scalino on the right (3323m).

Fresh air of an early morning, with blue skies above us, after a couple of strides on skis everything felt very natural yet somehow odd.

Still feeling like partisans, as more strides passed and one hundred became one thousand, the anxiousness transformed into joy that we were freely out, that we are skiing again!

Pizzo Canciano, or Piz Cancian in Swiss, as seen from Passo di Campagneda (2626m). This peak can be climbed from the Swiss side or as we did from the beautiful Valmalenco valley in Italy.

After two months of the lockdown under the beautiful peaks of Valtellina in northern Italy – just south of Sankt Moritz, Switzerland – there was a lots of anticipation mixed with uncertainty.

Now, the ski conditions here are quite good and the valleys are fairly empty as most already transitioned into summer sports. With new snow in the forecast, there are more ski adventures to be had this winter… trip reports are coming 😉

From the top of Pizzo Dosde (3280m) looking towards the next peak that day and its beautiful 800m north glacier of Cima Lago Spalmo (3291m).
Looking into Switzerland from Cima Saoseo (3264m), with the 4050m high Pizzo Bernina in the background – the most eastern 4000m peak in the Alps. Below is Val da Camp valley.
Pupazzo di neve, or a snowman in English, guarding gorgeous flowers in Val Viola.