Sassariente (CH) - 1 768 meters
Nr 33
30th summit in Ticino.
This was the 1st peak out of 3 (Sassariente, Cima di Sassello, Madonetto) we had programmed for today.
We took the southern route up, following path 1703 explained in the official guides of the CAS (Swiss Alpine Club) at page 457 of the 2nd volume (Guida delle alpi ticinesi, dal Cristallina al Sassariente). Having said that, we did not start from Monti di Motti (which would have been a lot easier) but from Monti della Motta, going through Monti di Gola Secca and only crossing and then following path 1703 from Alpe di Foppiana. The exact route of the day is linked below.
It's a beautiful mountain which is pretty easy to reach. Only the last 200 meters are tricky as you need to walk up some wooden stairs which have been placed in the rocks and the last 10 meters are a small couloir where a little bit of climbing is needed.
The completely exposed stairs were icy and covered with snow (mid-november) but luckily there is a chain which helps keeping balance. A fall here would result in serious injury as we're talking about a 30 meters vertical gap (see some pics of these stairs below). If you're afraid of heights..stay away from this place :-) , but if you want to have one of the most beautiful views in the southern Lepontine alps.. then go for it.
Level: T3+ and climbing level I or a low F due to the last 200 meters (it would be a T3 and I on a normal day without ice and even a T2+ without the last 200 meters :-) )
With Katrin
ROUTE:
