Next morning ... bright clear(ish) skies, but there was still the threats from the wind.
We had been advised that the snow conditions were better on the East side of the pass aty dinner last night, so we chose to head towards the Monte Leone Hut ... a lot of the peaks being beyond reach at this stage of the campaign.
The route left from behind the hospis, and around the front of the prominent rocky ridge, into a glacial combe behind... across this to the border with Italy.
A steady start picking a route through the descent debris.. we were aiming for a prominent rock on the skyline with a cross on the top.
Closer to the rock ... a big landmark.
As we arrived at the rock we could see it was not on the ridge but a little before, so no view of the forthcoming challenges.
Once on the ridge itself, the route drpopped alarmingly on the other side to avoid a rock spur.. plenty of people had gone this way .. but still - skins don't grip pointing downwards.. and to add to the danger the drop was large to the left and the distance not insubstantial. The photos do not do it justice ... however we got down with only a minimum of fuss.
From here it was a case of crossing the end of the glacier, keeping as low as possible without having the traverse the numerous bands of rock/ moraine showing.
this was all a long distance with very little height gain, constantly looking back to the drop from the ridge wondering how we would get back, and if the lower option would be better.
Once across the glacier face we then started to ascend the valley in front of us ... looks fairly innocuous, but the slope was relentless.
To add to the challenge the blue skies had gone and the light was getting flatter.
The valley slackened off ... we though we were close to the hut, but this was up tot he left somewhere ... just chasing one false summit after another.
A bump on the ridge .. the hut should be around here ... the visibility is not great, and after a check of the gps ... Bryon spots it to the left and up a bit ... we had veered too far right and missed the path (well the one under the snow any way).
A quick consultation and we chose to go to the col and then up the side to the hut...
A first look into Italy, after loosing a few meters . Chaltwasserpass
Just up this little slope then to the hut ... cutting through the rubble bands. then over to the hut nestling in a dip looking back over a frozen lake.
The hut was all shut up for the winter ... but did provide a convenient wind break for a snack and to remove the skins.
Up and around the back of the hut.
The first part down and around the lake was difficult .. into the wind, very flat light and little to navigate by ... so slowly and much polling but we soon came out above the valley we had ascended ... this gave us some better skiing, but still very hard surfaces and much skidding rather than turning.
Once back at the end of the glacier we had the reverse crossing .. keeping as high as possible and negotiating the rubble bands.
All the while looking at the "ascent" needed on the other side.
We took the simple option .. we put the skis on our backs and walked up it .. making use of the hard snow to our advantage. ... this saved the unknown around or the effort of stepping up in skis.
Up close the slope was not too bad and going up hill helped.
A stop off at the big boulder for a snack and we were ready for the (leg) bone jarring descent to the hospis and a cup of tea.
