UKC

Title pretty much says it all really.

Me & some friends are off to the dolomites at some stage this summer. Among other things we'd like to do the cassin route on Piz Badille. We're not 100% on the best time to do it. So i said i'd ask on here & see what the consensus is. So UKC whaddayareckon?

In reply to Frank4short:

I reckon you'd be better off going to the Bregalia if you want to want to do the Cassin route on the Badile!! Best times probably July to september but its a variable as I've been there in August and the face has been completely snowed up.

In reply to Frank4short:


Well I've never been on it or considered even doing it so I am probably well qualified to comment by UKC standards to comment on it. But mate get a map, it aint in the Dolomites! Try Bregalia (probably wrong spelling)

In reply to Frank4short: The weather is notriously unstable so you just have to take your chances. And as sombody said, go to Bregaglia, not the Dolomites...

In reply to Frank4short: Yep Bregalia, but be careful and get a good forecast, notoriously prone to lightning strikes.
We went with a perfect forecast but had a terrible storm on the descent, I think it was in August.
Not sure why this is, but there are lots of stories similar to ours, including the first ascent.
I guess it has to be a geographical feature but its certainly disconcerting when it happens.
Alison Hargreaves started out at the same time as us, but she was soloing and got down before the storm started, Our friends and Ali and Jim were so concerned they thought of calling out the rescue just before we arrived back in camp on what had fortunately dawned into a perfect day.

In reply to Frank4short: I did it august 2003 when we didn't see any snow anywhere and climbed in rock boots/trainers,

The original Cassin ascent (worth a read if you can find his autobiography) was distinctly different and while summers are warmer, it can still be a mare from the stories you hear.

Awesome route mind,

Ben

In reply to Al Evans: Yep - it can as I found be an electrifyling experience... Zzzzp.

In reply to mike kann: Right guys apologies i was thinking of the wrong Cassin route. i was thinking of the one on Cima Grande. Hence the dolomites comment. So i'm gonna try reposting this for the right mountain.

In reply to Frank4short: anyone know if it doable in june? i get week off then after my AS exams. i though the north east ridge and the cassin were reasonable achivements for a week.

which airport do you sleaze too? andhow easy is it to get to the baddie?

cheers

Tom

In reply to Frank4short: Ahaaaaaa... July - august in that case...

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide: Its been done in the winter... so yes. On the subject of doing both in a week,I'd suggest that you'd need to be bloody lucky...

In reply to mike kann: will it be a HVS trad rock climb in june though? not requireing axe or crampons. or some desperate mixed horror?

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

That depends on the season.

To become a sucessful alpinist takes time, experience and learning from many failures. Try some 10-15 pitch routes in an alpine setting 1st. Gain experience, make sure you are still alive in your 30s to take advantage of your experience.

I think it was Mark Twight who noted that many of the greatest alpine achievements were realised by people in their 30s with many years of experience

In reply to MattG: i would do the north east ridge first, and then if conditions are right the casssin.

i read that bit in MT's book.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide: Bear in mind it is two days for each route as you have to walk round the mountain and over two passes to get back to Bondo on the second day if you intend descending to the hut on the Italian side.

We did the Cassin and descended the North Ridge (not the NE). Thus, doing the whole thing in a day, having walked up to just short of the N ridge the evening before.

There are plenty of options elsewhere in the Bregaglia to get yourself warmed up. The Albigna Valley has stacks of big multi-pitch which are that wee bit less serious.

Ben

In reply to BenTiffin: i meant the north ridge, the one equiped with absail anchors.

i understood that you walked in from the hut, 2hrs, then climbed the route, around 7hrs and rapped it, around the same. 19 raps i think.

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:

Read this for details of routes, pictures etc.

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

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide: We walked up past the hut the night before to a point about 30mins short of the foot of the N ridge where we ran out of daylight so bivied.

The Cassin took about 7-8 hrs but we moved together for the first third up to just short of the crux. The North ridge rap was bolted with ship anchors but the route finding was a bit of a mare in the lower part so we downclimbed for a couple of 100 metres. We reached the cars as it was going dark - awesome day.

Ben

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:
It was not equipped with abseil anchors in 2000, unless they were the nearly full rack of nuts I hammered in. If really stuck and you are slow there is a bivvy hut at the summit, I guess we are still talking the Bregalia now?

In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide: Bear in mind that the top section of the North ridge is horizontal for quite a long way, so you are effectively downclimbing for a way. Don't assume that its just a case of simply abing - its not. If you get caught in a storm on the top ridge like we did you will not be able to move, unless you are a combination of dumb, desperate and stoopid. Some of the ab rings are extremely hard to find unless you know where they are so if you do intend on abing the north ridge I'd advise doing the route aswell so you know where they are...

In reply to mike kann: I still am not quite sure what route we are talking about here, but if its the Bregalia, I agree,
Al

In reply to Al Evans: i'm refering to the casin route and north ridge (could be north east but pretty sure it's the north) on the piz badile. it is bolted for absail descent and has been for some time, pre mellenium.

In reply to sutty: i've deleted that post, as i wrote it wrong.

it was sposed to say: i know it isn't virtical.

In reply to Frank4short:


I reckon you are as good a skier as you are a climber,you and your mates have obviously really considered this a lot if you are confused about the mountain range the route is in.
Apologies but I have a strong aversion to bullshit !

In reply to Anonymous:


anonymous posters.

if your gonna post abuse at people at least have a descentcy to give your name.

In reply to Anonymous: The security of anonymity isn't it great.

In respnse to your queries. I made a mistake re: the Cassin route we're intersted in doing. I've seen the pictures of the line. I think making a mistake with the mountain name is an easy enough one to do when it's a region you've not been to before (either bregalia or the dolomites for me). No i don't climb aswell as i ski but then again some of my mates are much better climbers than me & the route we have in mind is aidable on the harder sections. I think 6+ months out is plenty of time to organise it & happily make plenty of mistakes in the initial planning stages. So long as you know the mistakes you're making & sort them out in time.

Finally if you're gonna snipe at people you could atleast have the common decency to get yourslef a profile (that's if you don't have one anyway) & atleast give the people you're talking about a decent right of reply. Who are you to comment on anyone else when you won't put up any information about yourself.

In reply to Anonymous: Oh yeah & regarding my skiing i think the photos in gallery are a pretty good indication. However if you aren't satisfied with them i could always scan in a few old photos of other sutff i've done in Cham but the quality ain't so hot so I never bothered putting them up.

In reply to Frank4short: Cassin on the cima grande? do you mean the comici? or the cassin on the cima ovest (nextdoor)? best time for those routes is july/august, but again watch out for storms, can be incredibly violent round there. The top of the casin on the cima ovest follows a watercourse near the top so would therefore be a very unhappy place if you got caught in a storm there. Add to that its a big exposed traverse to get there, so pretty comitting. comici is awesome. can be pretty cold on that face, and verglass can be a prob even mid summer.

In reply to BenTiffin:

check out the Plaisir Sud guide which has quite detailed topos of both the North Ridge and Cassin routes:

http://www.needlesports.com/acatalog/Mail_Order_Switzerland_118.html