UKC

There are two popular options for descending the Badile after climbing the Cassin route or the North Ridge.

1. Descend by the North Ridge.

This appears to form two schools of thought, either a 3 hour session of abseiling and easy down climbing or a prolonged epic of tangled abs.

2. Walk back over the passes. Typically appears to be an 8 hour strenuous hike.

Any body actually done both options?

I am trying to compare these two options, getting a lift back from the south side can be a lot of hassle for two independent climbers.

In reply to Rick Graham:

Yep, done both.

The walk back over the cols is pretty horrible and a reasonable day in itself.

The ridge is intricate and involved. We regularly changed between 30m abs, 60m abs and down climbing. It took us about 6-7 hrs back to our bivi.

If I was doing the Badile again I would probably go down the ridge if time permitted, though if you could sort a lift/transport back around then that could be a good option ...

In reply to Rick Graham:

There's a little bivvy hut on the Passo di Bondo. Looks a lot smarter now than the mini nissen hut I slept in.

In reply to Rick Graham:

Abseil down one of the other lines- Another Day in Paradise perhaps? All fully bolted I believe. Better abbing than NR and less walking than the passes!

Doing the two passes is one of the biggest mistakes I have made in my climbing career - its is grim, long and took 7hrs. Having a day of recovery after meant we missed the next weather window too.

I haven't done the ridge descent, which I imagine is ok IF you are competent enough.

I am a massive skinflint, but would not hesitate to pay £100+ in taxis to avoid doing the passes again!

In reply to Dan Arkle:

Recently done the descent into Italy and there's good public transport links all the way back round, and cheap.

In reply to lanky and weak:

We abbed the route after climbing Another Day in Paradise which was fine. HOWEVER we didn't top out on the ridge as tha last couple of pitches scrambling seemed very loose with diagonal lines and much older belay bolts. Also abbing our line took some care to locate the ab points/belays even having just climbed them. So in short NO. Don't attempt to use this as a way to ab from the ridge

In reply to Rick Graham:
Am i right in thinking that the north ridge descent has good anchors with good quality bolts (if you can find them) so would it not be possible to simul abseil the ridge with each climber taking one end of the rope and uncoiling from a rope bag or similar as they go to avoid all the tangle situations that people talk about??

In reply to adie84:

There are ways of easing the pain of abseils. This is more paralysis by analysis. Love the epic stories though. Hard work-good.

In reply to zimpara:

Have you done a long Alpine multi-pitch abseil?

In reply to Jamie B:

Yes and I'm sure you have some useful tips too. Start a new thread.

In reply to Rick Graham:
We abbed the ridge twice in two days, it's fine, you just need to keep to the ridge direct, look for the ship anchors and don't be tempted off to the left (looking down). There is potential for rope faff becuase it's so easy-angled at points and covered in juggy flakes so it can catch quite a bit. To deal with this the second feeds out the 'leader' slack as they abbed then as they ran out of rope launch it hard as you can over their heads, seemed to work for us. On 60s we skipped a few stations and got away with it most times, I was left in no man's land at one point and made a belay, only happened the once though.

Screw going down into Italy, you're on a climbing trip not a sketchy hiking holiday.

oh and what Kev said about abbing down ADIP, good luck finding the right place on the ridge to drop down and find anchors. Don't bother.

What a mountain, would love to go back for Ringo Star

In reply to Rick Graham:

I haven't done both options, but went over the passes. Not sure I'm qualified to answer, but still: there is excellent climbing on the south side as well (sport, trad, bouldering). It even pays off to stay for a few days at Rifugio Gianetti. If you don't have the time for that, there is even some climbing right on the way back over the passes. I.e., the ascent to Passo Porcellizzo can be done over a 5 pitch rock route (graded French 6b). Some pictures and hints can be found here:

http://stat.ethz.ch/~dettling/badile.html

In reply to Rick Graham:
I have done both - abb down the North Ridge (three times in fact) and the last time, a couple years ago, it got even easier as they have some very sophisticated abb stations in place now. It still takes forever as it is very easy-angled in places, though. Maybe 3 1/2 hours if reasonably quick - or up to 5 if slow.
Abbing would be my preferred option, I prefer to climb lightweight etc. However, you could also pop down the other side (very nice hut with nice Italian food and cheap 'mountaineers' wine and then return via the two passes. Both are perfectly fine options. Nowadays my time is usually limited so I prefer the quickest option (i.e abseiling), if time is no factor, either of them are good, particularly as you could do another cool route from the Italian side the other day.

Yes, abbing down Another day in Paradise could be great, but you would have to know where it is and find it from the Ridge which I think would be very difficult if you haven't done it. It's not obvious. I would avoid that.

In reply to Heike:
Are the easier sections on the N Ridge downclimable (within reason) or is it that awkward angle where you can't really downclimb but abbing is also a pain?

In reply to Rick Graham:

Abbed down twice,first time before the bolts on the NR,if you can pool the ropes with other parties descending to use their ropes and rig the next pitch with yours etc. Did it with a bunch of Italians and was down in less than 2 hrs,at one point doing 3 abseils in succession before using our ropes and allowing them through , the only down side was they insisted on singing Fire by the crazy world of Arthur Brown for the whole descent.

In reply to Rick Graham:

I did the Cassin route with two mates about 1980 and descended the
North Ridge. It seemed relatively straightforward at the time and we were by no means super efficient alpinists . It certainly didn't take 6 or 7hrs probably around the 3 hr mark. There is a very convenient bivvy site at the foot of the ridge which gives easy access to the Cassin (gives you a head start over teams coming from the hut!). We left the bivvy gear there and picked it up after the descent of the North Ridge.
One reason I think people faff about alot is because they have too much rope! We would have been using double 45m at he time. 60 m ropes are all very well if you need 60m .If you don't need the extra rope it just gets in the way and is a definite cause of tangles etc!

In reply to Rick Graham:

Guidebook time for descent of the north ridge is 4-6 hours. It took us 6 back to the bivi. I would allow for 6 if you are reasonably competent. One issue is you can get held up by people still coming up at certain points.

In reply to Misha:

Yes, a lot of it is this awkward terrain where you try to throw the ropes and then land in a heap as it's not steep enough. I have down climbed a couple of bits in between, though.

In reply to Heike:
Usual Alpine faff then... Interesting how some people say 3 hours and others 6 hours.

In reply to Rick Graham:

I think it depends on whether you want a quick (?) descent or to have an experience travelling round the mountains. The trip back over the cols is actually a lovely walk (with the exception of a couple of little bits) in rather wild and quiet surroundings. Sure it will take much longer in total, and if you want just to get back to the start of another route/your car/civilisation it's not the best option, but for a complete in the mountains experience and you have time (and weather) I would go for the cols. This is especially if you've just done the N ridge - I can't imagine a more depressing experience than taking a total faff/ages/hours of frustration of abbing down an easy angled route you've just done in less (?) time and with great fun on the way up!

In reply to Rick Graham:

Pretty sure this will have been mentioned elsewhere - but it's very easy to get public transport back from the South side. We didn't leave the hut (the day after the route) until 8ish and were back in Vico, including the run up to collect the car from the top car park, by mid afternoon. Neither of us spoke any meaningful German or Italian.