"Monte Rosa" is the name of the largest mountain massif in the Alps. And Monte Rosa also served as the namesake for the so-called "Freeride Paradise - Monterosa Ski". In order to taste the fruits of paradise, we stayed at the highest possible spot in the Refugio Guglielmina at 2,880 meters. But instead of being banished, we were rewarded with several big dump powder days.
Through the Valle delle Pisse to Alagna
From the mountain station of the new Indren cable car at 3,275 m, a short ascent and a traverse of around 10 minutes in total leads to the former mountain station of the Punta Indren cable car (3,250 m). From here, there is a great variety of downhill options and you are spoiled for choice between wide, narrow, steep and less steep slopes. The valley narrows at the end and all descents lead over a slope with shrubs ("avalanche weed") to a restored Walser village at 1,836 m.
This is where the downhill fun ends; from these houses you follow a long hiking trail down into the valley to Alagna. To save yourself the long, arduous descent into the valley, you can traverse (at approx. 2,400 m) to the Boccetta delle Pisse mountain station. We skied both variants on different days and found very good conditions with fresh powder as well as less good conditions with broken snow. In most places, however, the terrain offers alternative options, so that despite the dominance of hard snow, there were still good lines to be found behind a ridge, for example. On the hiking trail out into the valley, we had to carry our skis from time to time due to snow-free spots. Above the village of "Wold" we called a cab to take us to the valley station in Alagna. That worked perfectly the first time. A few days later, after our second descent through the Valle delle Pisse, no cab was available and we had to walk half an hour to Alagna. But the descent was worth it! Luckily, we still had enough time to catch the last lift up to Refugio Guglielmina.
After the fresh snow had melted in the easy-to-reach area, we decided to climb up to Passo Zube to ski down through the Giacchetti Couloir.
Giacchetti Couloir via Passo Zube
The route leads from Refugio Guglielmina westwards along a mostly well-trodden track to Col d'Olen (2,895 m). The walk takes around 10 minutes. From there, a short descent starts over beautiful hilly slopes to the ascent starting point (approx. 2,640 m). With skins, the ascent of just under 250 meters in altitude is far less strenuous, but can also be done without them if the trail is well-trodden. Once you arrive at Passo Zube at 2,874 m, the faithful, and of course everyone else, can take a break at a small statue of the Madonna or use a sheltered spot a few meters further on below a rock to take a break and change. From here, our 670-metre descent started on the left down a steep powder slope towards the Giacchetti Couloir. The entrance to the couloir is quite impressive, as it is extremely steep (approx. 45°) and narrow, and elicits a "wow" from all freeriders. On both sides, rugged rock faces rise vertically around 80 m into the air. Towards the bottom, the gully widens and opens up into a wide slope of the Valle d'Olen; this leads straight onto the piste to the Pinalunga valley station. The heavy snowfalls of the previous days had filled the Giacchetti Couloir with lots of fresh snow: The gully presented itself to us with half a meter of great powder. We arrived at the Refugio Guglielmina every day at around 4 p.m. with broad grins on our faces and enjoyed the cozy atmosphere there.
Refugio Guglielmina (2,880 m)
The Refugio Guglielmina, situated at almost 2,900 m, is family-run by Alberto and his team. We stayed here for eight nights. The rooms, as is usual in mountain huts, are simply furnished and very quiet. The food and wine are all the better for it. Constant contact with the world below the 2,880 m high rifugio is guaranteed by the free WLAN(!). Up here, the "Marmotta" (marmot) doesn't greet you every day at around 4.30 pm, but the gentlemen of the local "Polizia" escort the non-guests of the Refugio on their descent into the valley to Alagna.
The first-track guarantee from the Guglielmina has unfortunately remained a pipe dream. After fresh snowfall, as we experienced, it is only possible to ski once the blasting of the avalanche slopes in Valle d'Olen has been completed and the pistes are officially open. By then, the first powder-addicted freeriders from the valley will have already arrived at Passo Salati - and they'll be going as fast as they can.
The Monte Rosa Freeride Paradise
The Monterosa ski area offers countless spectacular high-alpine descents. The wide range on offer understandably attracts many off-piste skiers, with the result that after snowfall, the slopes are completely ripped up within half a day - despite the often high avalanche warning level! After two days without precipitation, the standard routes turn into huge moguls. Then, as in all other freeride hotspots, powder runs are only possible here with increasingly long ascents. Nevertheless, the name "Freeride Paradise" is justified thanks to the impressive panorama with several 4,000-metre peaks and the length of the runs with up to 2,000 vertical meters far away from the hustle and bustle of the slopes. And then it almost doesn't matter whether there is powder or not.
