Gruppo: Gran Paradiso

The Gran Paradiso (4061 m) is the only four thousand entirely in Italian territory, and its equipped route makes it one of the most sought-after alpine climbs of the Alps. It is not a sporty ferrata: it is a high mountain itinerary on the glacier where the stretch with cable is only a part of a long climb between moraines, snow and crevices up to the famous madonnina of summit. It requires alpine experience and glacier equipment.

From the town of Pont, at the bottom of Valsavarenche (~1960 m). A clear path climbs to the plateau of the Rifugio Vittorio Emanuele II (2732 m) in about 2h30 (~745 m of altitude difference). The peak climb is usually faced the following day, starting from the hut before the’ dawn. Road signs for Pont →

From the shelter follow the traces of the normal road; in about twenty minutes you cross a glacial creek and you go up the moraina to the wall, wandering right on small rocks with omits, where a multilingual sign signals the beginning of the equipped stretch. The ferrata runs on a rocky coast with metal ropes: exposed beams, short vertical walls, passages on the crest wire, equipped plates and a horizontal traverse under a roof. It goes out on the “schiena d’asino”, where the streets converge from the Chabod and Vittorio Emanuele refuges, and continue on snowy slopes up to the glacial circus of summit. After the last crepeccio, a summit crest of very exposed rocks and a narrow nod on the Tribulation Glacier lead to the madonnine (4061 m).

The descent takes place on the normal road, going back to the glacier and stretch equipped to the refuge, and from there to the valley.

In Valle d'Aosta there are other equipped routes such as the Ferrata Casimiro, la Ferrata Marguerettaz e la Ferrata at Mont Chetif.