Since living in Munich I started to get used to waking up on Monday morning with my muscles screaming blue murderβ¦ this time I had the last minute weekend trip in Italy to thank for. What was supposed to be a lazy weekend at my friendβs family vineyard in Piemonte was turned into something more rigorous that involved, among others, mountain hiking and rock climbing under shower of pellets of frozen rain and snow.
Hoping to escape the rainy Bavarian weather only to be greeted by chilly 14C temperature upon arriving in Piemonte was rather heart-sinkingly disappointing. There I was, staying at della Rocchettaβs beautiful family estate in the foothill of the Biellese Alps yet unable to escape the frigid weather, ironic really. Though that didnβt stop us from enjoying the five-stars view from the terraceβ¦ even if we had to huddle under a thick blanket.
Given the unpredictability of the weather forecast in the Alps region, we decided to abandon any hope of careful planning and simply play-it-by-ear to see what the morning brings and see if hiking could be in the itinerary.
Morning came pretty much with heavy shower that blanketed parts of Biellese Alps with snow. And somewhere around those peaks lies Il Monte Mucrone, the mountain we decided to scale.
Due to our late start, we arrived at the foothill of Monte Mucrone around 3pm and decided to skip the walk from the mountain base by hopping on the cable car from Oropa up to the Mucrone Lake that took us to 1900m of altitude. The Mucrone Lake itself is basically a basin of glacial origin set in a hollow between Monte Mucrone and Monte Rosso, and can usually be reached in a quarter of an hourβs easy walk. I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by legion of mountain goats having feeding frenzy around the lake.
Forty five minutes of fast pace hiking through slippery rocks and icy water, while hail pouring over our heads, took us to the foot of Via Ferrata del Limbo, or otherwise known as the βIron Walk between Heaven and Hellβ. Categorized under T3 difficulty level according to the Switzerland Alpine Hike mountaineering ratings, Ferrata del Limbo is basically a 300+ meters upward ascent with fixtures, steps and aerial crossings and can usually be covered around 2hours. However, since neither of us had done this particular path (with myself being complete beginner in rock climbing), it took us nearly three hours to reach the peak.
Looking at the iron steps nailed on the vertical rock was enough to give me doubt about ever reaching the peak before dark, especially for an Acrophobic like myself. Yeah, jumping off the plane is one thing, but climbing roofs let alone rocky mountains ainβt exactly something that made me exclaim with joy. To add suspense to my growing weariness, my friend later confessed (while we were already half way up), that he was suffering from vertigo and rock climbing was his way to face his fear. βBrilliant,β I muttered silently, βhere we go two people both afraid of heights attempting to scale Colle del Limbo.β
The vast amphitheater-like base was basically the start of our ascent that relies on the groove that leads to Colle del Limbo. The strike begun more or less in mid-channel, on the right wall. Being a lefty, I found it rather challenging trying to clip my harness with frozen fingers of my right hand, which is pretty much how the iron pikes laid out along the rocks.
It took me only few minutes of climbing to realize that ascending while icy water trickling down the rock was a bad idea, and I could probably end up committing murder IF we ever made it alive from here. A first vertical section, a very slippery one if I might add, was soon followed by a steep stretch that flows into a sort of chimney, a dihedral angle that continues on askew steps that wasnβt easy to navigate. I swore that the distance between the iron steps was designed for someone over 6 feet tall with a mile long legs!
After a sequence of movements over short partition of rocks and chimneys, we were faced with overhanging cliffs in some places that offered little footholds, and it required some serious upper body strength to heave ourselves upward. Not an easy feat considering that I practically had no biceps strengths. It was simply sheer stubbornness that got me through the ordeal.
Having started the day with only a cup of espresso and yoghurt (and a bit of chocolate along the way), I was simply running on pure adrenaline from this point forward.
The second part was less harsh but with hail pouring over us, our visibility was dramatically reduced, and gripping the iron pikes became a game of slippery-when-wet on steroids. And I hate to admit that I literally got stuck midway and had to ask for assistance to leap over the next slit of rock. I promised you it wasnβt elegant at all but hey, beggar canβt be choosy. And in this case, I was a very poor one.
The third segment was the shortest, but characterized by the so-called Tibetan Bridge Dancer, which is basically consist of three unaligned cables stretch over a cliff with sheer drop to nothingness if one is not strap onto a harness. The lower part of the cable was laid in rather offset position that it sways enough when you made sudden jolt of movement. Not exactly a thing to do for the faint hearted.
From this point, you could almost see the initial start of the pre-peak, which could be reached in less than half an hour in sprinting hike amidst some giant boulder of rocks.
Located in the Province of Biella in Piedmont region in Northern Italy, the highest peak of Monte Mucrone is accounted at 2,335 meters above sea level. Given our dismal preparation and meager ration (two blocks of chocolate that we only ate one, and a bottle of water), I must say that we did pretty wellβ¦ especially considering the fact that we had to race downhill upon descent in pitch dark and managed not to slip and breaking any bones. My iPhone was proof rather useful as a Torchβ¦ for about 10 minutes before it completely gave up under the rainy assault. Armed with only LED head lamp that offer no help in determining which path offered safe passage, I decided to abandon it all together and simply follow my friendβs footsteps closely and hoping that my night vision would help me along the way. At this point, I couldnβt even fathom the idea of missing the cable car to take us back to the base station and having to walk for another hour under icy rain in the dark. It was poor visibility that slow me down upon descent as I wasnβt sure of where the next footing will led me. It could either be a rock or slippery grass in which slipping was just a matter of when not if.
It wasnβt until we were aboard the cable car, around 9.30pm, that I realized the holy shit moment of being able to deal with my fear of heights and experienced flow. I might not passed with flying colour but at least for once I didnβt utter my usual βWTF am I doing hereβ lines during the whole course as I was too busy plotting the next step trying to secure safe footing while hanging on for dear life. Literally.
And in an ideal world, after all those brave adventure, it was only fair to conjure up a vision of cozy cabin awaiting us with warm fire and a cup of hot chocolate β or a glass of Scotch, depending on whoβs telling the story, but since you were in mine, then hot chocolate it is. Alas that was just it, an utopia.
Oh there was a cabin alright⦠a very nice one in fact, except that we had to get the fire going ourselves before the warming up part became a reality.
All in all, waking up the next day to a view like this awaited us outside our cabin was definitely worth all the painsβ¦
Even if I doubt I would repeat the experience any time soon, I was glad that at least I didnβt end up committing any murder. Itβd have made a rather messy Sunday otherwiseβ¦
jbbartram-illu
kaledo-art
ellievsbear
yousharknotpass
dailybridgerton
areudirty