North Cascades Mountain Guides -

This trip was a long time in the making. After trying to get into this area for several years, IFMGA guides Larry Goldie and Jeff ward pulled off the inaugural trip to the Ortler region of Italy. Located in the heart of one of the largest national parks in Europe, this remote region of the Alps is a ski mountaineering paradise. The terrain was spectacular, the huts and food were amazing and the weather was perfect. This is a trip we will surely offer year after year.

After meeting in the quiet, charming town of Sulden, IT, we rode the lifts to the top of the ski area to begin our trip. Here Larry stands at the top of the chair getting ready to begin. We skied the piste just down to the obvious col in the center of the photo.

After a strenuous 30 seconds of sidestepping, we were ready for the first descent of the trip. Here Sarah and Rick take a few photos before we drop in.

Our group came from many of the hotspots of the mountain west. From Left to right, Rick Winfield from Incline Village, Nevada, Anna Collins of Seattle, Tad Linn (back to the photo) from SLC, UT, Louis Gordon, Sarah Brace, both from Seattle and Larry Goldie (from Mazama). Photo by Jeff Ward.

The area had received over a meter of new snow the week prior to our arrival. Once we began the trip, the weather turned perfect and we skied dreamy corn for most of the trip. Here Sarah enjoys smooth corn turns just outside of the ski area boundary.

After reviewing some avalanche rescue skills, we continued down the drainage, skinning to to the Zufal hut. The Ortler region has many huts, all located several hours from each other allowing skiers many options for where to go and where to stay. We opted to bypass this hut in favor of the Marteller hut, a bit farther up valley. As you can see, the Italians don't pull any punches with their huts. This one was complete with swingset playground and Church out front!

We continued up the glacial valley under perfect, blue skies toward the Marteller hut. The large peak in the background is Cevedale; one of the major summits of the area.

Here Tad approaches the Marteller hut.

Louis, Sarah, Anna, Rick and Jeff enjoy the charming ambiance of the Marteller hut's dining room pre dinner. All of the huts in this area have electricity, running hot and cold water, showers and incredible food!

One of the benefits of low ratio guiding is having the flexibility to split the group and travel in different areas or at different speeds. The following day Jeff, Tad, Rick and Louis climbed over the top of Cevedale to reach our next hut. Here Rick skies down the Cedec glacier after working down from the summit.

Meanwhile Larry, Sarah and Anna skied over the shoulder of Cevedale. This enabled them to make a quick stop at the Cassati hut for cappuccino and apple strudel while waiting for the snow to soften up on the steep descent on the other side.

The next destination was the Branca hut. This hut could be the base for a week of ski mountaineering by itself as it sits among 6 major ski objectives, each with multiple routes up and down. Our first objective would be the classic Punta San Mateo which is the obvious summit just left of center in the photo.

The Branca hut is reputed to have the best food of any hut in the Alps. Our taste testers would wholeheartedly agree with this assessment. It also had wonderful coffee and a patio area with incredible 180 degree views. Here Sarah enjoys a post ski beer while hiding from the sun.

Here Sarah and Anna pose in front of San Mateo on the deck of the Branca hut.

While it hadn't snowed in over 4 days, we still found cold, powdery conditions on this largely North facing ascent.

And by just getting a hair off of the beaten path we still managed to find untracked snow for much of the descent. Here Rick enjoys some low angle powder turns just below the summit.

Lower down the snow transitioned smoothly to corn and we enjoyed some playful terrain features on our way back to the hut. Here Rick drops into a small chute a short ways above the hut.

The next objective was Palon de la Mare. The route begins on the bottom left of the photo where the hut sits at the end of the long obvious bench. We then climbed up the left couliour to access the large glacier above.

With another day of perfect weather we enjoyed more great corn snow and the view of our route from the previous day. Here Sarah, Louis and Jeff climb up the upper glacier with the climb from the day before visible directly above Jeff's head.

After 3 nights we grudgingly left the Branca hut and traveled to the Pizzini hut. After a fairly easy climb to the hut we indulged in the beverage that has given this trip the nickname "The Cappuccino tour".

After skiing corn until it got too hot to be out, we would retreat to the hut for the regular afternoon pastime. Here Rick serves up the .5 liter Birra Moretti's.

While the Pizzini hut doesn't offer the same big objective ski peaks of the Branca hut, it offers miles of wide open south facing corn snow. We spent the following day taking advantage of the 2000' runs right behind the hut. Heading back to Sulden the following day would be accomplished by climbing up the glacier in the background of the photo. This is the other side of Cevedale.

On our last day, we climbed up the Cedec glacier and made another ascent of Cevedale before heading back toward the ski area. Here Rick, Sarah and Louis climb some steep slopes next to a large icefall.

We summitted Cevedale by skinning right to the very top. Here Sarah climbs the last few steps with the Grand Zebru and Ortles peaks in the background.

After another quick cappuccino break at the Cassati hut we dropped over a pass and began our long descent back to the pistes of the Sulden ski area. Here Anna stands at the top of our 2500' run into Solden finding great cold snow for much of the way. This region is one of the secret gems of the Alps and we cant wait to get back here again next year!

Ortler tour 2007 Southern Tirol, Italy- April 6-12