UKC

Following on from Astrals Thread, how hard is the Cassin route? Also if you climb up to the ledge on the North ridge and then traverse, i.e. missing the glacier approach, would you need to take mountain boots with you or could you do it in Approach shoes? Is it easy to descend into Italy like this? Am thinking of visiting Val Di Mello, then hitching round to the North side and traversing across - I know the Normale on the south side is straight forwards, but am guessing I'd need crampons to do so because of the ice fields. Any takers?

In reply to mike kann:

The answer is, I guess, that it depends on the time of year and the conditions. I did it in 2003, the summer with the heat wave and there was zilch snow on the approach to the climb. So, if you then abseil down the North Ridge , you could easily do it in approach shoes. Indeed, I only took my rock boots up the route - nothing else. If you do it earlier in the season or after a snowy winter there might/will be a couple of snow slopes on the approach and snow at the foot of the climb, then you will need your mountain boots (when I did the North Ridge a few years earlier, you needed them plus axe on the approach for sure.

In terms of difficulty, crux pitches I would say are HVS/E1 depending on your point of view with lots of VS, Severe in between. It's a great route, one of my favourites. You can move together on the easier middle section to save time. I can't comment on the Italian descent as I have always come back down the North Ridge.

In reply to mike kann:

Definitely boots if going down south side for snowfield, and maybe sudden storms. You may not need crampons if you are descending in mush in the afternoon, can't remember if we took them or not.

In reply to mike kann:
The best tactic is to bivi at the base of the north ridge, traverse out on the ledge from the bivi site, climb the route then decend down the ridge. Be VERY careful traversing out along the ledge, the snow melt turnd to verglas and the consequences of a slip have been very severe in the past. i didn't take crampons, just boots to put on for the descent (scrambling boots) my partner did the whole route in his scrabling boots as its not to hard. we were up in 6 hours but it took us longer to come back down the north ridge as we got caught in a storm and lost the abb anquers, infact at the lower section of the ridge we just downclimbed as this was faster.
Haven't got a scooby about the descent into italy.
james e

In reply to mike kann:

this page gives some good info....definitely one on my ticklist this year:

http://www.cosleyhouston.com/piz-badile-cassin.htm

In reply to Heike: i didn't think it was as hard as hvs/e1. I thought more like vs/hvs at the most on the tricky section but i agree about there being lots of easy ground.

In reply to sutty: So maybe I should descent the North Ridge instead. I presume its largely equiped with slings for abs etc as its popular. Would be there in August. Am going on a bit of a mission - I want to do the Pordoi in the DOli's (just the most awesome looking route despite difficulty) and then follow that with Schwalbenswanz on the SOuth wall of the Marmolada. Seeing as these are both big routes I though I might as well have a crack at something proper big after as I'll be in shape (all be it a slightly odd one )

In reply to James Edwards:

I think it depends on the sort of climbing you are used to, but whether it's HVS or a bit more or less, it's well protected anyways and extremely enjoyable. The chimneys at the top were particularly entertaining. We took 6 hours up to and then quite a few down....at one stage passing 11 people on one Muniring on the ridge!

In reply to James Edwards: Have you still got your Ski Crampons for sale?

In reply to mike kann:

It's got quite new Munirings all the way down, just make sure you stay on the ridge to find them and don't veer or left or right.

In reply to mike kann:

When we did it the ab placements were not in place. One of our three ropes descended the N ridge and was first back with us going via Passo Bondo and other via Trubinasca. Both of us took twice as long to return, and needed axes.

In reply to Heike: What the hell are Munirings? Some kind of odd european contraption for storing money on?

In reply to mike kann: yes

In reply to mike kann:
Sorry, nothing to do with money at all. They are big monster cemented in belaypoints / bolts or whatevery you want to call it. Probably 8-10 cm diameter, sort of gold coloured. They are often put up in the Alps nowadays on trade routes such as the North Ridge for "ease" of use...They weren't there when I abseiled down the first time, I think they were put up in 2002/3?

In reply to Heike: Thats cool. Excellent. No definately on my list for this summer. Thanks for the info guys and girls!

To James: I'm sending you an e-mail...

In reply to mike kann: Did it early July last year, there was a snowpatch on the access ledge from the N. ridge, I put crampons on my approach shoes for this bit and my mate slithered along behind me without them. If one of us hadn't had them, we wouldn't have been able to cross the snow until it softened as it was hard neve.
The rest of the route was probably s/vs with hvs bits as others have mentioned above. The top chimmneys are awesome if you're a bridging fan, lots of pegs on the route and a fair number of bolted belays.
The descent ab rings are fairly easy to spot (most of the time) but the descent took as longer than going up (we had to rescue some people who'd got lost and then got stuck behind a slow party).

In reply to mike kann:

James et al are right about the bivi and approach. Do be careful on the traverse round to it, people have tumbled off that approach slab. If the route looks to be busy then you can stop half way across the slab and have a pop at one of the Face routes - we did "Another Day in Paradise" which is a corker at about E1/E2 and requires a lot of quickdraws and a selection of nuts and small cams. Ab down the route.

In reply to James Edwards:

I reckon descending into italy would be a far more satisfying way to finish the route than abbing the north ridge - it would make it feel like a proper alpine climb rather than a quick cragging tick. Granted you'd have to carry a little more gear on the route but I reckon it'd be worth it. The descent into italy takes about an hour, maybe a bit more. Most of it can be downclimbed but there's one or two abs. Take a decent topo from one of the german or swiss guides rather than trying to decipher the written description in the AC guide. The way back from the italian side is a bit arduous and you'd have to be fit to do it in a day. There's a bivi hut (vaninettti?) before you go over the trubinasca pass. It's has bunks and blankets so at least you'll have a comfortable night if you don't make it back to switzerland in the day.

In reply to adamvl:

sounds like quite an adventure!

In reply to adamvl: indeed you would have to be fit to do it in a day.. anyone done it? we took a day to go from the italian side to the swiss side on the approach, ok we were not exactly running but it was damn hot and we were pretty knackered when we arrived.

In reply to alpkid:

I reckon it should be possible - when we did the north ridge we walked in from bondo and made it over to the vaninetti hut with a couple of hours light to spare. We stopped there 'cos we were knackered and walked back to bondo in the morning - 4 hours from memory. However, we were really slow on the ridge (7 hours I think). A couple of years later we did the cassin in 4.5 so I reckon that would have easily got us back to the bivi in the light. I think people regularly do the round trip from the sasc fura hut.

Abbing the north ridge really spoilt the cassin for me. We were dead chuffed to have run up the route and then spent the next 6 hours untangling ropes.....

In reply to mike kann: Dunno, ask wil.

In reply to Heike:

I did the North Ridge at the end of July last year and we descended to the hut on the Italian side, and the next day we walked back over the passes to the foot of the ridge again to collect our tent that we'd left there. I did all the walking in approach shoes. There was no significant snow and the glacier between the two valleys on the return was covered in rock shards and easily crossable without crampons.

In reply to Alison Stockwell: So you descended the normal route in trainers? I guessed the neve's would have reduced in size with the warm summers....

In reply to Alison Stockwell: same here although i think we were slightly later in august. the descent down from the italian border into switzerland felt pretty horrible, steep and lots of loose rock. I didnt realise there was a glacier, looked more like a scottish snow patch to us. The descent from the summit down the normal route into italy is also equiped with belays, just watch out near the base and remember to follow a little track around to the right for a final abseil onto the scree.

In reply to mike kann:

Yep. £15.99 from the kids section in Brantano.

As others have said, there's a series of abseils; abseil rings in situ, and at the bottom of the last one was a small patch of soft snow which we glissaded over, and that was all.

In reply to Alison Stockwell:

More details here;

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/151179/pizzo-badile.html

Conditions must have changed a lot, we were on snow from the moment we reached the bottom of the south ridge till near the Scioria hut.

In reply to sutty: We were on Badile twice in 92 and 93. First year on "Cassin" and the other on "Another day in paradise". Both are great routes.
For the descent we were using so called "La Strada" which is series of bolted belays about 45-50m apart running down on the right side of the "North ridge" (looking uphill). everytime we hit the ramp it was easy to traverse back closer to the ridge and keep going. Easy part just above the saddle is easy scramble. Even thought there were small snow fields on the descent and famous piece on the traverse it was still easy to go in my trainers.
It can be pretty bussy on "Cassin" or "Ridge" sleeping close to the saddle or even better directly in the saddle(there was place for decent bivi for two) is recomended and start early.

In reply to mike kann: We did the ridge last summer based in the Val de Mello by: Hiking upto the Gianetti hut from the Val de Mello spening the night bivvying there, walking into Switzerland through the pass bivvying at the base of the ridge, climbing the ridge the next day descending down the Italian side, another night spent bivvying near the Giannetti hut and headed back to the Val de Mello in the morning!! Probably not the best way to do it but it makes the beer taste better!!
There was very little snow and no glacier to speak off when we headed to Switzerland through the pass last July. One point to be aware of is that there was a lot of rockfall coming down the snow slopes when heading down to the Vianetti hut whilst we were there. A very large piece of rock just missed the small boulder I was hiding behind!
Have fun!!

In reply to Heike:

what grade is the N ridge then?

In reply to Morgan Woods: Overall its a severe with a few alightly harder pitches around the English 4b mark. It's an awesome route in an awesome position! Cheers!

Plus ca Change.

Years ago did the N Ridge from Sciora Hut in big boots, descended to the South and then back up over the Bondo Pass and down the glacier (crevasses) past Sciora hut then benighted and forced bivvy on the way down to the valley.

Not quite so many years ago did the Cassin in rock shoes from bivvy under the face descended N Ridge (no abseil rings), benighted halfway down ridge.

Fantastic!