The ascent to the Bivacco Boccalatte-Piolti, at the foot of the Grandes Jorasses in the group of Mont Blanc, & a long and challenging itinerary, with considerable difference in altitude and some not always easy. The part with fixed protections (bridges and stairs) covers about 200 meters and ` only a component of un' hike with a strong alpine character.

Starting point & free; Planpincieux, a fraction of Courmayeur (Aosta): turn towards the center of the village, where c' ` a wide deck to park, and follow the signs of the sentiero 21 at l' hotel-restaurant Miravalle. Open road signs on Google Maps. The first hour & quiet, first in the woods then on the meadows with incredible views of Mont Blanc and Grandes Jorasses; after about one' now we face due guadi climbing up the walls of a stream. Then a placconata is very steep with passages of I and II degree (not always stable and slippery if wet); following the yellow signs and a few short stretches equipped you reach a wire scale that exceeds a leap of 20 meters (1h 30' from the parking lot). Continue to zig-zag on a morainic crest and, after about one' now, turn left through a nevaio to the rocky bastion above which rises the bivouac.

Climb on rock sections helped by grossi canaponi which cut to the left; follow the fixed ropes up to a pulpit and then, on air route, up to the balcony on which è built the Bivacco Boccalatte-Piolti (30' from the strike, 3h 30' from the parking lot È you can continue beyond the refuge on fixed ropes until you reach the glacier.

Itinerary for experienced hikers: the difficulty lies in the difference in altitude, in the guds, in the rock passages of I-II degree and in the mountain environment at the base of one of the most challenging climbs of the Alps.

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