Passo della Scaletta

Sometime starring at rocky faces of very high mountains, we wonder how to get some passes located to the end of vertical and very narrow gullies. This kind of passes are found in really remote places rather impossible to reach such as Passo della Scaletta (Scaletta pass) in Val Caronno also known as Val di Scais. This is a side valley of the main Valtellina in Lombardia region.

We already visited this remote and savage land, reaching Bivacco Mambretti, a bivouac located in an incredible position in Val Caronno, offering a gorgeous view on the mighty rocky mountains that encompass the territory, most of them with an altitude exceeding 3000 meters.

From this bivouac we saw Passo della Scaletta placed between Pizzo della Brunone 2720 meters high and another peck without name 2490 meters high. It was terrific and really challenging ! Thinking to go up was a nightmare, but at BBofItaly we love this kind of experiences.

I spent some time googling to find out some information about Passo della Scaletta, but there were few pictures and some brief descriptions. In a nutshell I found nothings. I was aware that this adventure was for me in the unknown, also because Val Caronno is a lonely valley.

After a very hard walk on harsh ground recently beaten by a huge flood, when I was under the narrow and vertically gully I looked up and decided to take some time to decide if it was safe to go up alone. The path was classified as mountaineering therefore intended for more than just expert hikers.

While I was there in a really savage place, completely alone, I saw three people coming up, one of them was a local alpine guide – Aldo – the second was a geologist – Alfredo – and the third was an Archaeologist. The three were heading to Passo della Scaletta, therefore I had the opportunity to join whit these my new companions and get the pass in safe conditions.

I am so grateful to these three guys and I was lucky to share with them an unforgettable experience. Climbing with them was simply fantastic !

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