Stage 9 - Malga Pramper to Rifugio Bianchet

Tuesday 13^th September 2016

14.4kms, 1200m height gain, 1350m height loss, 7hrs walking

 This was our toughest day’s walking firstly because we had to ascend an extra 300m which we had lost by staying at the Malga and not the rifugio which was booked out and secondly because we went beyond the stage end to give ourselves a quicker exit from the track the next day.

The ascent back to the AV1 and the 514 was made fairly quickly via the 523. We caught up to a big French group at Portela del Piazedel (2097m) and saw 2 chamois (our live chamois count had now tripled!). We continued upwards across an exposed ridge to Forcella de Zita Sud (2395m) which involved an essentially vertical scramble. This was probably the most challenging section of the AV1 for me. The descent to Pian de Fontana (1632m) was also steep but very doable with the first warning signs we has seen. We saw lots of marmots and a herd of 19 chamois plus a lone male on this section of the track which crossed a grassy valley between the two steep sections. We had a well-deserved hot chocolate once we arrived at the rifugio.

The afternoon continued with a further descent before a climb to Forcella La Varetta (1701m) and then an exposed belvedere before a further 450m descent to Rifugio Bianchet (1245m). While neither Andy or I found the belvedere challenging some other walkers on the trail did. My knees were certainly sore when we arrived and we had certainly earnt our beers.

Breakfast at Malta Pramper