Pizzo Cassandra 3226m – with a mountain guide
Pizzo Cassandra is a snow capped mountain located on the east side of the more famous Monte Disgrazia.
Cassandra is known for its reasonably easy yet very scenic normal route along the south-west ridge, but also for the more challenging north-west face that offers great rock-and-ice mixed climbing.
This ascent is a good stepping stone to prepare you for more challenging ascents like Bernina 4020m, or Disgrazia 3678m. You can also add an intro day to improve your mountaineering skills.
Normal Route
The Normal Route is a great adventure and an excellent introduction to alpinism (Level2).
Thanks to its wonderful scenery and low difficulty, it is enjoyed even by less experienced mountaineers. The ascent still requires good stamina due to its long approach and vertical gain if we start from the car (1600m).
Day 1
In the morning, we can either start from the village of Chiareggio (1612m) or we can sleep at Rifugio Ventina (1960m), which will save us one hour of hiking.
Beyond the rifugio, the trail will bring us to the Ventina Glacier where we will rope up and put crampons on. The glacier is gently rising, offering a comfortable ascent up to Passo Cassandra (3097m). From the pass the route climbs beautiful mixed snow and rock on the west ridge, and all the way to the summit. Descent retraces the ascent route.
North-West Face
Climbing Pizzo Cassandra (3226m) through the North West Face is a more challenging climb with engaging steep snow and mix terrain (Level3). If you previous mountaineering experience you will enjoy more than the Normal Route.
Day 1
For the fist three hours the approach for the North West Face is the same as for the Normal Route.
The route through the face is a straight climb up, with a maximum gradient of 50 degrees, until the summit ridge. From here you are short walk to the top. The descent follows the normal route, described above.
Ideas to extend this adventure
Add One More Day
Spend a day going through the nuts and bolts basis of mountaneering to get ready for the ascent
Climb one More Peak
On the third day, we can ascend Torrione Porro (2435m) through the via ferrata or Pizzo Rachele (2998m), two great peaks on the eastern side of Val Ventina. After the climb we go back to the hut, then hikes down to the car and we come back to Valmalenco.
What’s Included
As per itinerary above.
Not Included
As per itinerary above.
FAQs and Practical Tips
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