ITALY - Italian High Level Route
The ultimate Italian Alps 'Beginners' Week' ~ Climb several 4000 metre Alpine summits ~ Lunch at the highest mountain hut in the Alps ~ Alpine Mountaineering skills tuition
7 nights hotels and refuges, 6 days DEMANDING trekking and EASY climbing, max. altitude - 4563m 14,970ft. All meals included.
demanding
A simply unbeatable walking holiday adventure trekking high in the Italian Alps with easy climbing to Alpine summits. This fantastic walking and climbing holiday in the Italian Alps begins with an afternoon of Alpine glacier skills training at the Gandegg Hut above Zermatt, in the shadow of the iconic Matterhorn. The Breithorn (4164m / 13661ft) is our first walking objective on the following day, before trekking the long descent into Italy's picturesque Gressoney Valley. Walking back up to the lively Gniffeti Refuge, high on the south side of Monte Rosa, sets us up for one of the finest of all trekking days in the Italian Alps. The walking starts out on Pyramide Vincent (4215m / 13825ft) and the trekking then continues across straightforward Alpine snow slopes, climbing to the summit of Signalkuppe (4556m / 14944ft), where we can take lunch at the Margarita Hut, the highest in the Alps. Then, after an easy climbing traverse to our high point at the Zumsteinspitze (4563m / 14967ft), we are faced with walking a long glacial descent to Zermatt, with an overnight at the Monte Rosa Alpine Hut, a little oasis of green amongst the towering giants of the Italian Alps. Alpine walking and straightforward climbing doesn't get any better than this!
Trip Guide
This is fundamentally an easy Alpine climbing trip with some superb trekking, both on and off glaciers. Led by professional IFMGA guides, it is aimed at beginners and instruction in roped glacier travel and guided climbing, using crampons and a single ice axe is part of the package. The ascent of the Breithorn (4164m / 13,662ft) and the Signalkuppe (4556m / 14,948ft) will be strenuous on account of the altitude but are technically easy involving only low-angled snow-slope climbing and some slightly exposed ridges. Ropes, crampons and an ice axe will be used. Given the guide to client ratio of 1:6 and the non-technical nature of the climbing, this trip should be feasible for novice alpinists with a good level of fitness. En route, we will stay in mountain huts and hotels, some of which are inaccessible by vehicle and this means that group members will carry all of their personal equipment throughout the trip. With careful planning, and given the fact that sleeping bags and camping mats are not carried, the total weight of your rucksack can be pared down to around 8 kgs / 18 lbs.
The trip pages are only a brief summary of the details available within our trip dossiers. It is important that you read the full day to day description and further information for this trip before making your booking.
Download a dossier for ITALY - Italian High Level Route
