Kategorie: Videos

For the third time, I went to the Alps in Italy for the Grande Traversata delle Alpi in 2021. This time, The Great Destroyer was present and walked the route for the first time. This meant that we started the whole route all over again together. That’s not bad, it gave me a chance to see it again a little later in the year. And it was indeed completely different. On my first tour, it was still partly over snow on the high passes and in fog. Here, the weather was perfect, sunny and warm. The vegetation was also much wider than just two months before. In parts, I could no longer recognise the route. Anyway, it was clear that summer at 2500 m is very very short. Now as I write these lines it is mid-October and winter has been back there for a few weeks. When we were there it was August. In any case, a very worthwhile second tour for me, this time all together in just one video.

Pont Saint Martin in the Aosta Valley was the end of my second trip on the GTA. Here, on the same day, I made a forced march from Refugio Coda early in the morning with a 2000m altitude loss descent into the Aosta Valley. After still being in the cold at the top, it was almost 30 degrees summery warm in the Italian town. I had to get myself two ice creams straight away and was able to take a brief look at the thousand-year-old city in the evening. There was already a settlement there in Roman times and the bridge was 2000 years old!

This was the last stage of the second tour on the Grande Traversata delle Alpi. The start was in the early morning from Refugio Coda, where I had recovered during the night. At altitude it was really cold and I had somehow hypothermia. Anyway, I was fit again early. This time, unfortunately, everything was first in the fog. The route was not difficult, but dangerous because of the fog and the exposed places on the ridge. The route went in the beginning constantly on the ridge up and down. On one mountain you had a spectacular view of the Aosta Valley and some other valleys. From there, secured with ropes, it went down again quite steep and dangerous. This time it should go down about 2000 meters in altitude to the Aosta Valley. The lowest point of the entire GTA. I had no desire to stay overnight on the Agritourismo, but wanted to descend directly to Pont Sant Martin. At about 1900 m was an alp on which there was cheese to buy. Since it should now only go downhill, I packed 5 kilos Toma for 50 euros in the backpack. Later I should still consume two months of it. The further down it went, the warmer it became. The route took no end and you see again what you can run so everything. 2000 meters in altitude are also a word. The landscape was unique in the Aosta Valley. Above was cattle farming and further down agriculture and old paved mule tracks through forests. At 2500m it was still quite cold and down in the village it was finally 30 degrees again. I was glad to have a decent bed again in my meager room. Before was almost only Refugio as accomodation.

Through some detours I managed to get up the hill this stage of the Grande Traversata delle Alpi. At the top, next to the Refugio, was an old small village with about 18 houses that were in varying condition. The owner of the Refugio had been living there for generations as the last one and once it was all full of families. The place is unique on the edge of a mountain and on a narrow cliff, but at the same time quite inaccessible. However, in summer quite a lot of hikers pass by the refugio to enjoy the view. The village continues to deteriorate until there is hardly anything left of it. These are testimonies of a sinking culture.

One of the few hikes in Germany in the summer in 2021. This time the hike was around the village of Großbottwar through villages and forests in Baden-Württemberg.

This video is a small overview of Oropa in Italy. Oropa is a sacred place with a long history. I stopped there on a hike through the mountains on the Grande Traversata delle Alpi, then a day later I went further into the mountains.

From Oropa, this time with a homemade breakfast, we headed back towards the Basilica and then on towards the mountains. At first I was alone on the way, but already a little later other hikers came. A prominent place was a cable car at which some hikers arrived. From there it went also further with another cable car up the mountain. However, the cable car was not running. In some distance a building on a mountain was visible. When approaching it turned out that it was another building of a cable car, where however the building was abandoned and also no more rope was there. Arrived at the pass were immensely many mosquitoes, so I went on immediately. At the altitude of about 2500m was this time quite a lot of fog. On the other side it was no longer so easy to go forward. Everywhere coarse rocks. The way to the Refugio Coda then also dragged on forever. Some places was quite dangerous in terms of falling. At some point I arrived at the Refugio and I was quite cold. I had not even noticed how I had hypothermia in the fog and at altitude.

From the Refugio Madonna delle Neve we went through a forest down to the valley. From there it continued along the road up another valley again and later finally through a piece of forest again to Santuario San Giovanni d Andorno. The building there was badly damaged by a huge rock. Then we continued up the road, which was closed to traffic, always up the switchbacks, as the path through the forest was not visible at first. Later it went again over open meadows steeply up to the slope. On the other side, the huge basilica in Oropa was already visible. So I went down and after some time reached my hotel in Oropa.