+ 194
Bonatti Hut to Grand St Bernard Monastery
Backcountry Skiing Route
Details
10.8 mi
5,783 ft
A logical link to a historic and fantastic place to spend the night
This is a very enjoyable day, well off the beaten track. You will have seen many people yesterday, coming down the Vesse couloir and going down through Courmayeur, but today chances are you might see none. You are leaving a popular hut, but your first climb up to and over your first col is much less so, as it is steep the far side and puts you in a separate valley system.
It all starts very gently, steadily increasing in angle to a steep but short pitch, to your high point, Col de Malatra at 2928m. It is very steep the far side, but not for long at all, before beautiful open slopes take you down and left, past the Frassati Hut. Traverse L here, then up to the Col de Ceingles. This has a really wild feel and there are probably no tracks here.
The following col, the Col de St Rhemy, has barely any uphill, more of a shoulder, but allows you access to the large valley system, that has come up from Aosta. Descend here to about 200m, to a hairpin on the road, before donning your skins for the final time. This starts steeply but soon eases off, with the novelty bonus of a section in a tunnel, usually snow filled, so you can still skin. This is a good plan, because the hillside the tunnel traverses is very steep. Emerging from the tunnel the far side it is a short skin to your destination for the night, the amazing Grand St Bernard Monastery.
It is well worth arriving in plenty of time, here to have a good explore of this massive building, including a look at the museum. Written by Jon Morgan
This is a very enjoyable day, well off the beaten track. You will have seen many people yesterday, coming down the Vesse couloir and going down through Courmayeur, but today chances are you might see none. You are leaving a popular hut, but your first climb up to and over your first col is much less so, as it is steep the far side and puts you in a separate valley system.
It all starts very gently, steadily increasing in angle to a steep but short pitch, to your high point, Col de Malatra at 2928m. It is very steep the far side, but not for long at all, before beautiful open slopes take you down and left, past the Frassati Hut. Traverse L here, then up to the Col de Ceingles. This has a really wild feel and there are probably no tracks here.
The following col, the Col de St Rhemy, has barely any uphill, more of a shoulder, but allows you access to the large valley system, that has come up from Aosta. Descend here to about 200m, to a hairpin on the road, before donning your skins for the final time. This starts steeply but soon eases off, with the novelty bonus of a section in a tunnel, usually snow filled, so you can still skin. This is a good plan, because the hillside the tunnel traverses is very steep. Emerging from the tunnel the far side it is a short skin to your destination for the night, the amazing Grand St Bernard Monastery.
It is well worth arriving in plenty of time, here to have a good explore of this massive building, including a look at the museum. Written by Jon Morgan
Route and Elevation
Segments
Name | Distance | Elev. Diff. | Avg. Grade |
---|---|---|---|
Route Grand Saint Bernard Climb | 0.31 mi | 348 ft | 21.2% |
Sprint final Hospice "Show must go on" | 0.36 mi | 82 ft | 4.0% |