UKC

Hi,

Thinking about trying cassin route late next week. Can someone tell me how many sunny days it would need to clear of snow.

Its snowing on bregaglia forecast over the weekend then later in the week several sunny days.

Does it really need a good long dry spell this time of year or might it be climbable.

And do people take light crampons for the walk back round from gianette....or ab the north ridge?

I know it's been covered alot....cassin logistics.....thanks for help.

I did it one September, waiting about a week after a spell of pretty bad weather, which was needed from the look of it. It was fine, though quite a bit of ice in the back of the upper chimneys.

I climbed it after 1 day of sun. The route was dry (mostly). But because it had been raining two weeks before, we weren't the only ones on the route! So I recommend waiting another day.

Maybe you have seen the weather warning for Sasc Furä hut the upcoming days:

Rain Level 5. Very severe hazard. 

Saturday 148 mm

Sunday 52 mm

Monday 5 mm

Edit to add source: Meteo Swiss 

Thanks guys. Yeah its abit of a gamble. Will watch the weather and get a last minute flight if looks promising....

Would 100% advise against abseiling the North ridge, even if you've climbed it before, unless you're prepped for a night on the mountain. 

Last year we climbed up in 6 hours, and were still descending 10 hours later. No stuck ropes, no real troubles finding anchors. (We were perhaps over-cautious of that if anything!). It just keeps going!

Have you considered Another Day in Paradise as an alternative or fall back option. It takes the slab way to the right of the Cassin and I'd guess would be clear of ice/snow much sooner (no cracks or couloir to hide in). Beta, photos and Trip Report here:

https://rockaroundtheworld.co.uk/2017/07/15/another-day-in-paradise-ne-face...

As a bonus, you can rap the route in a couple of hours and be back in the hut drinking beer while most Cassin parties are having epics finding the ab stations on the N Ridge! 

Phone the hut if it’s open?

Re NR abs. It depends. Some people have epics. We did it in about 3h. That involved downclimbing the arete, a bunch of abs once it steepened, more downclimbing once it mellowed and then a couple more abs at the end but you can probably ab the whole thing apart from the arete. We did it with a single 60m rope. I’d recommend a 70 as some of the abs were a bit over 30 requiring some easy downclimbing (the steeper abs were fine). It would also enable more of the pitches to be linked without having to move together. 

difficult to give you an awnser on no. of days as it depends on how warm it is (although the its north east facing so does get some sun.)

you dont need crampons for coming down the north ridge - check out the Sasc Fura hut's facebook page. they posted recently about conditions on the italian side. they also post pictures of the conditions on the face. They will be your best bet of getting an idea of how much snow has fallen. 

if you are competent at abseiling and have come off a big alpine route before the North ridge really isn't that bad, we got down in 4.5 hours ish from the summit (including two or three stuck ropes) last week,  There are anchors everywhere if you follow the logical lines