Valdritta: Respect the Mountain

Today we're planning on hiking up a mountain in Italy as we've a couple of days here on holiday. As we leave the hotel the owner gives us a really odd look when we say where we were going; as if she's misunderstood us. English is her third language. She tries to tell us not to go as there is a lot of snow. We tell her we'll be fine and start off on our way to the cable car, a little puzzled...

We step off the crowded first level of the cable car and are glad to be leaving the large groups behind as we begin to head up past the ticket office on the Monte Baldo range of mountains. The car continues up another level to where the ski field sits during winter. 

We however take the small road behind the cable car up towards the rest of the range. We're aiming for Valdritta today, the tallest of the peaks in this range. The road behind the cable car station is cobbled and it's not long before it becomes quiet and peaceful again. We're not the only ones here though as there is a couple ahead. The young man is wandering aimlessly and seems quite relaxed about things however the older lady following behind doesn't look too happy about things. 

As we approach to pass her it's that awkward moment where you look out the corner of your eye at the person you are passing to gauge their expression and decide whether it's a good idea to smile and say hello. It's an ever present risk of rejection when hillwalking. This lady, however, is huffing, puffing and grimacing so I decide not to acknowledge her and try to get us past as soon as is possible. 

She, however, has different ideas and just as we are passing she says, in an aggressive tone, "buongiorno!" We reply in kind then move away quickly, wondering what this woman's problem is. If she hadn't been grimacing at this infernal world that put a mountain in her way we would definitely have said hello. Now she acts as if we're the epitome of rudeness. Oh well, we move on quickly. 

Soon enough, we take a right turn off another road and are soon into the steep hills. The pace is not terribly fast due to this and I remind Jess to keep pushing on her legs with her hands to help take some of the pressure off her quads which should help her energy levels later on. 

The first two kilometres sees us climb three hundred metres. We started out at around six hundred hatred above sea level. We're now at nine hundred. The gradient is pretty steady though so it's not gruelling, just long. There is still a rough road below us, although it's definitely only one you would tackle with a four wheel drive. We do see a motorcyclist head off past us, blowing smog in our face and it's funny to see that for people here it's just normal everyday life to be moving about so high in the mountains. 

We reach a shelter, which is basically just a roof over the road with walls on either side and inside is a candle below a picture of the Virgin Mary. On the other side is an intersection of sorts and we take another right. 

We reach the third kilometre point in about an hour and I begin to wonder a little if we're going to make it in time. We've got a tandem paraglide booked back at the top of the cable car for four o'clock but as it's now eleven I'm not too sure if we'll make it in time so may have to turn back as it's undoubtedly going to be harder going up the top with some snow up there. Oh well, if we turn back we turn back and that's fine. Soon after the motorcyclist goes back the other way again and we wonder what he was up to up there? 

We pass a sign mentioning that this is now the nature reserve of Monte Baldo. The path also plateaus for a while which is quite nice as it means we can move a little quicker than we have been and it's less hard going. A break of sorts. 

I've only got my Inov-8 road shoes on though so it's getting pretty slippery as they are completely smooth with no grip on the bottom at all. The path itself is fine, it's the huge amounts of leaves that are covering then that I'm slipping on. Oh well, it should be fine. 

The scenery here is pretty amazing and we're in a large forest by this point then hear a foul styling down below and see a chamois bounding off into the distance, frightened by our moving about. Then we see another ahead, who stops to stare at us before moving away. Then another. And another. There are loads of then up here and they're jumping pretty speedily down a gradient of around twenty percent so it's pretty cool to see these animals in their habitat leaping gracefully around. It's also surprising as they're pretty fat looking things so you wouldn't expect them to be able to move well but there you have it. 

We're still moving along on the flat and round a corner to see through the tree canopy the mountain range in the background. It's incredibly impressive looming above us and a quick check of the map tells us which one is Valdritta. It's a huge beast a few kilometres away now. It's also covered in snow. Gulp. 

Just after this point we reach a clearing with a large log cabin in it. We have a look around but it's all closed up and muse on what it might be here for. It looks like it might be where people stay on nature camps or school trips. Either way it's pretty interesting to have a look around. Especially when we're now five kilometres into the walk and twelve hundred and fifty metres above sea level. 

We continue on past the cabin and start to get more views through the trees as they slowly start to thin out. We're moving above the tree line now and also starting to get the odd glimpse through the trees of Lake Garda far below us and it's an amazing view. 

It's not too long before we see our first bit of snow. Unfortunately though, it's blocking the path. Slightly annoying. I take a tentative couple of steps over it and realise that it's a no-go. It's about seven or eight metres across but is sloping down a valley so goes on for quite a while below us and there is nothing to grip onto if our footholds in the snow don't hold so we don't particularly fancy a slide down there. 

So instead we start to make our way down away from the path as there is a large group of trees at the bottom to avoid the snow with. It's a bit of a scramble and we end up whipping ourselves with quite a few branches to get around the bottom of this snowy level but we do find ourselves on the other side of it eventually, albeit a good ten metres below the path and quite a lot of trees and branches between us and it. 

We carefully push branches aside and make our way through the trees until eventually I see a marker for the path and realise we're back on the right track thankfully. Jess joins me a minute later, knackered and scratched but relieved it's over and we can walk again easily. 

We talk about hoping the path will stay like this and that it was just that one section with snow and that the rest is easily traversable and, for a while, it's true. I'm really hoping to get to the top of the mountain but am aware that if the path becomes too much more treacherous we will have to turn back. I check the time and we've been going around two and a half hours. Which means it's going to be a push either way, forward or back, as to whether or not we'll make it in time. I don't want to alarm Jess at this point and in particular don't want to rush her on terrain like this so don't mention it just yet. 

The path does carry on nicely for a while and on a short section of climbing we sit to catch our breath and Jess notices she's just sat on the hard boiled eggs she nicked from the hotel breakfast this morning. Bugger. Luckily they're okay so we decide to just eat them. 

We carry on and soon enough are making our way across more snow. This time it's small amounts in the middle of the path though so fairly easy to get across by just sticking to the side of the snow and holding on to nearby branches for stability. Back onto the path at the other side, round a corner and we are an amazing view up of the mountain above us. It's now only about a kilometre or so higher than we are but looks above us so impressively it's hard to take it all in. 

There is also, we note, a lot of snow on it. Taking a look at the track on the map and matching it visually it does look like we may not be able to make it as, whilst we're fine now as we're on a ridge, we're soon going to drop off the ridge back into a valley and having to cross it, which is likely going to be pretty complicated without crampons. 

Either way, I'm not yet ready to give up so we continue on for a while, making good progress until we reach a fork in the path. One side goes along at the height we are currently at. The other side points straight up the ridge we are rounding and has 'Valdritta' written next to it. Another gulp. 

The point we are at is actually a flat plateau jutting out from the mountainside and has little snow on it so is a good chance for us to catch our breath and have a gel for some energy. The path goes off to our left whereas the ridge itself rises directly ahead of us and has much less snow on it so I decide to run around the trees just to scope out the route ahead. As suspected it looks pretty unlikely. We're on passable terrain now but only just as there is a huge amount of snow ahead and above and I don't like our chances crossing the valley ahead to go around the mountain and summit. As we are still on passable terrain though we do carry on. 

The path in summer goes directly up the middle of this slope...

Soon enough we're spending more time on snow rather than track and are having to divert from the path to find the safest ways up the ridge depending on whether or not there are branches to grip onto in order to make sure we have something to stop ourselves if we slip. The reason for this is we're now on a gradient of about twenty per cent, so not far off a cliff face, with mostly only snow around so we have to be extra vigilant not to slip. Jess asks me if I think this is all a bit silly and I say I think we're okay so long as we are careful and turn around if and when we need to and don't push it. 

Luckily there are a lot of branches around and sections of trees sloping downwards which we stay very close to and mostly tend to climb over to avoid blank areas of snow that are impassable. It means that we are slowly but surely getting absolutely covered in scratches but the term 'better safe than sorry' has never been more poignant. 

Our pace is incredibly slow at this point as the main thing is to make sure we keep a hold on the branches and get a rare foothold.  After a while we reach a section of mountain scree that has large enough rocks to climb fairly easily (although Jess remembers this differently). I get to the top of this ahead as I'm not wanting to kick any stones down below onto her and make her slip and at the top I see a track marker and sit down. I shout out that we've rejoined the path and that I'll wait here until she gets to where I am and a minute or so later she arrives. 

We sit down and look at the map, the track and look at what's ahead. There is still the top of this ridge to reach and then the valley to cross before an ascent straight up the back of the peak before summiting. Looking ahead of us this is covered completely in snow. 

I ask Jess what she wants to do and she says she is happy to continue up to the valley but will likely want to turn around at that point. It looks like she feels more confident now that we're back on the official path. I take another good hard look at the mountain and tell her...I tell her I think it's time we turn around now. The look of relief on her face is quite something and I realise she was willing to go further only depending on what I felt was safe. Safe is going back down now. I tell her I think we've been fine up until this point but that we're on the boundaries of our limits and that Valdritta is going to have to wait until another day when there is either no snow or we have the correct gear. Which my racing flats are not, sadly. Not to mention the fact that in the last hour we've only gone half a kilometre. Although we have ascended two hundred metres to what we realise now is our highest point of the hike at sixteen hundred and twenty five metres above sea level. Seven kilometres in total to this point.

We look around and, despite the terrifying drop below us there is an amazing panoramic view over Lake Garda far below us and Valdritta directly behind us. We may not be conquering it today but we've got a lot closer than we probably should have expected and it is a point where we can take a deep breath and appreciate what is around us and how lucky we are to be alive and healthy enough to come up here.

Which reminds me... alive. We need to make sure we stay that way. We start off back down the track but the way across the mountain that the actual track goes rather than the way we came. Jess goes ahead and before I can suggest we go the same way she's off, keen to get off the mountain. In truth it's a relief to be making our way down but we're not out of the woods yet. Or back into them in this case. I think about shouting ahead to maybe go back the other way as I think it's safer but guiltily am pleased she's taking the lead as it's been mentally quite draining I now realise. 

So instead, we go back down the rocks here and cross the field of snow to the other side, which is easy enough as it's not a wide field at this point and there are quite a few trees to hold on to. Then we turn back and start to cross it back the other way down to the side of the field we've just left to create a zig zag. At this point I look down and, whilst there are trees to grip on to, there is also a massive field of sloping snow below it. I dig my heels in and look down. This is the first point I feel unsafe. We should have gone back the way we came rather than crossing this field but I'm ashamed to say I didn't make that call early enough to tell Jess, who is now ahead of me and moving across the field like a champ, making sure to be very careful. Whilst she went ahead first and is picking the route, she's only going where she thinks I want to go and the safety is one hundred per cent up to me so I should have realised and made the call earlier. 

It is too late now though, and we are making our way slowly back across this field. The zig of our zig zag at this point is about a hundred metres across and down the slope approximately twenty metres so is pretty steep. The best way to get across is to hold onto the branch you are at before digging a hole in the snow with your heel and moving, inching across slowly until you can reach the next one and let go of the one you are holding on to. They slope down the mountain as they've obviously been pushed over by the snow to the point where they are actually horizontal down the mountain rather than up like a normal tree. It's pretty important to make sure your grip is tight but I'm worried of Jess's as I know the cold gets to her and she doesn't have gloves but she looks like she's doing better than I am up ahead and is slowly making her way across the field. I grab another branch, slide down to its lowest point, dig my heels in and inch across to the next one. I ask Jess how she is doing and she says she's okay but wants to be out of this now.

Soon enough we make it to the other side and it is definitely a relief. That hundred metre section took us about ten minutes and, whilst we were careful, one slip would have been very, very serious and likely fatal. I wish I could say I'm exaggerating this with poetic license but the honest truth is that we shouldn't have come back an unknown route and that is completely my fault for not realising and making the call earlier. Sometimes you really do have to stop, let your brain catch up enough to reassess your surroundings. 

Sometimes, you have to respect the mountain and realise that it has been there long before you came along, and will stand a long time after; so if you don't look after yourself then no one else is going to. Our hearts calm down a bit, we catch our breath and I'll be honest and say that it's a humbling experience for me to take this in. 

I'm really glad we've made it across. There are more sections of snow to come I know but we're back to the path we took up the mountain so they shouldn't be as treacherous. My thighs have scratches right up them where the trees have scratched as my shorts have ridden up and I know that now we are back to climbing through the trees more are to follow but I really don't care at this point I'm just happy we're both off that field and safe. 

I celebrate by slipping over. I stick my hand out which comes down on a small stump that fits perfectly into the palm of my hand. It's stings pretty badly but hey, at least I got my hand on it before I sat on it as that would have hurt a hell of a lot more.

We slowly scramble through the trees back down the way we came, occasionally having to deviate a little to get a better line down than the one we had up, but mostly this section is traversable without any major risks as there were before and slowly the snow begins to thin out. Very slowly indeed, but it is thinning all the same. We slowly get a bit more confident and I mention to Jess that after a particularly hard bit it's easy to get complacent and that is when a lot of injuries can actually happen so I remind her, and myself in turn, to still be just as careful as we were over the field.

As we make our way back down to the outcrop from the mountain where I went ahead to scope out the way ahead I know we're now, finally, back into the woods. Not out yet, mind, but in them all the same. It's another relief as we both know that it's traversable from here without too much effort. I see down to the left though there is a valley with nearly no snow so decide to go down and check if this would be a safer option to get down further. I get past some trees and see that I'm on the edge of a cliff now and decide that perhaps we should stick to the way we know and get myself back up to where I was quick smart. We move down the hill until we reach the spot that Jess sat down while I scoped ahead and stop a minute to catch our breath. To be on the safe side I check the map, as complacency can kill at a point like this and lucky I have as we need to take a sharp turn to the right, which we wouldn't have known if I hadn't checked the map as we're not following the exact path, rather just one as close as possible while still being safe. We move back to the path and keep moving down at an increasing and the snow has nearly completely thinned out by now. 

I check the time at this point and we have around an hour to get down to the cable car in order to, I think, make it down in time to catch the correct one up to the top of the mountain for the paragliding. I've been terrified of it for weeks but after what we've just been through I'm too weary to care now so don't even find the prospect daunting anymore. I don't want to press it too much but I know we still have around six kilometres to go before we're back down at the cable car. I know this is easily doable for both of us on a downhill but I'm also aware that the path is still a bit slippery with leaves, albeit without the imminent danger any longer, but that Jess isn't the trail runner I am so may not feel quite as comfortable upping the pace especially on tired legs after a pretty epic hike.

The ground is, however, soft underfoot and incredibly cushioning at this point so I suggest we go for a jog to try to make up some time. It's going to be better to jog now rather than later when we are back on the path again so I say that we can take a walk when we get back down to that point and Jess says she is okay with that. I explain the rules of safety coming first and that she only need go as fast as she feels comfortable with. I'll go to her pace not the other way around so if I'm getting ahead she just needs to do her own thing and I'll slow down. I want this to still be enjoyable if possible rather than agony for her and most of all I want her to feel zero pressure to go fast or keep up as that's never going to be fun. I ask if she's okay with it and she gives me a nervous grin and we're off. As our shoes have been absolutely drenched by the snow and mine are brand new and shiny white they pick up every bit of dirt available and turn brown pretty quick. Oh well, it's not the end of the world.

It's really nice going through the forest after the epic day we've had so far and nice to be moving a bit more quickly again. We don't see any chamois this time and I make sure to keep my own pace in line with Jess' wherever possible and try to check in that she feels okay and doesn't hurt too much but careful to keep the pressure off if I can. Soon enough we reach the gate out of the national park. Soon enough after this we pass the first people on their day's hike looking puzzled both at the map and subsequently the two runners who are passing them grinning, wondering where the hell we have come from as it can't have been the mountain behind us could it now? That would be silly...

We reach the 'road' again and pass through the shelter and there are more and more people about. I check in with Jess and she's actually still okay with running down and is looking really fresh considering all the hiking and around forty minutes of running on top of it so we don't stop and instead carry on. I keep an eye on the time and we've got twenty minutes left...fifteen. They're counting down but we are making really good progress thanks to Jess being speedy and soon enough we see the cable car station with about ten minutes left to go. We make our way down and hoon into the station...just in time to see the cable car go.

Back to safety.

No matter, I think, we obviously have only just missed the earlier one and our tandem paragliding instructors have only told us to be at the top for quarter past four. The next car is leaving at exactly that time so we'll only be eight minutes late and presumably they gave us a slightly early time and will be on the same car themselves. Presumably. There is a stat board next to the entrance with the weather conditions up top and it's currently five degrees celcius and winds of ten kilometres an hour. I receive a call and it turns out the instructors were on the car that just left and are now at the top. I explain we'll be on the next car and he sounds worried as the weather is turning. Four fifteen rolls around and as we get on I see the stat board is now saying two degrees up top and twenty kilometre per hour winds. 

The cable car itself slowly rotates to give everyone a stunning view of the countryside. Or so the brochure says. In reality it's crowded with loads of American tourists shouting about how many chin ups they can do and has scratches on all the windows so the 'view' is somewhat tempered.

Once we reach the top the instructors are waiting agitatedly for us. They take us straight outside and it is freezing up here. We're now eighteen hundred metres up on a skifield. It doesn't feel as high or scary as expected though, having come up by a cable car rather than our own steam as earlier so despite it being the highest I've ever been I feel like it doesn't really count. Better to consider the hike earlier as the highest slope I've climbed. In saying this, however, the view is amazing. The fog is rolling in and it is starting to snow which doesn't bode well though. There isn't anywhere near enough snow for the skifield to be open but there is enough to stop paragliders sadly and as we stand over at the cafe near the jump point the instructors make the call that we need to wait half an hour inside to see if it clears up and if not we won't be jumping. We get a coffee and hot chocolate, which is lovely, so go try it if you're ever there, and wait. The instructor calls a friend on the ground and the snow up here is rain down there and they go out to take one more look then sadly come back shaking their heads.

Valdritta far in the distance. We got as high as where the fog and snow meet the trees.

It's not to happen today, which is a real shame as I know how much Jess was looking forward to this but the truth is that even if we had been on the earlier cable car we wouldn't have been able to enjoy slamming cold winds and being rained on in the sky no matter how nice the view. The cable car down is still twenty five minutes away so we go for a walk to take a last view and the winds are pretty blistering up here so Jess decides to go back inside to wait. I want to see the jump point which is a ten minute walk away so I jog over and as I pass the last of the tourists coming the other way they clap and cheer for the idiot out for a jog in shorts at eighteen hundred metres when it's snowing. I park the zip on my jackets hood and give them a grin as I pass. 

The view over at the jump point is amazing but it's bittersweet as we should have been seeing it as we jumped and I know Jess is going to be feeling pretty gutted back at the station so, as nice as it is, it's not a view I can enjoy so I head back and give her a hug instead. We catch the cable car down, go get a pizza in the jaw-droppingly beautiful town of Malcesine then head back to the hotel for a warm shower and bed. 

What a day. Whilst both my hike and Jess' paragliding ended up as no-go's, I feel incredibly lucky to be able to even attempt such things and to have seen the amazing views I've seen today under our own steam. You never know how far you can go unless you try to go further.

The next morning the hotel owner asks how we got on...then gives me a leaflet to a race she organises each year running from the town up to the top of the mountain and along the ridge line. Just in case I want to come back for round two...