Ascent and descent
Until two seasons ago, Punta Helbronner was served by a small, nostalgic gondola lift from the 1940s. Today, the new "Skyway" holds significantly more people and with a 360° panorama, it takes you from the valley to a high alpine, glaciated mountain landscape via 2 stations. The view immediately makes everyone realize the enormous potential of possible descents. But we, and what felt like a thousand others, opted for a standard descent today, with access via a seemingly ancient staircase to the Toula glacier. Before that, you first have to hike or walk a short distance to the north-west before rounding a rocky outcrop and covering a few more meters to the south-west. You can now actually see the aforementioned staircase, but in our case the extremely strong wind transforms the landscape into a wild snowflurry. These surreal conditions made it necessary to abseil over a snow lip. 30 meters below, the whole spook was over. On a small plateau, an impressive view opens up over the Aosta Valley with its snow-covered mountains. Finally, the route continues down the stairs to the Toula Glacier.
