Piz Badile (3,308 m) is a
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
of the
Bregaglia range in the
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
canton of
Graubünden and the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
region of
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
. The border between the two countries runs along the summit ridge. Its north-east face, overlooking the Swiss
Val Bregaglia
The Val Bregaglia ( lmo, Val Bregaja; german: Bergell, ; rm, ) is an alpine valley of Switzerland and Italy at the base of which runs the river Mera ( lmo, Maira in Switzerland).
Most of the valley falls within the Swiss district of Maloja i ...
near
Soglio, is considered one of the six
great north faces of the Alps
The six great north faces of the Alps are a group of vertical faces in the Swiss, French, and Italian Alps known in mountaineering for their difficulty, danger, and great height. The "Trilogy" is the three hardest of these north faces, being th ...
. The name ''Badile'' means ''spade'' or ''shovel'' (arising from the mountain's appearance when viewed from the Val Bregaglia).
Climbing history
The
first ascent
In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...
of Piz Badile was by
W. A. B. Coolidge with guides
François Devouassoud
François Devouassoud (September 1831 – 1905) was a French mountain guide who made many first ascents in the Alps, notably as guide to Douglas William Freshfield, who claimed that Devouassoud "was the first Alpine guide to carry his ice-axe to t ...
and Henri Devouassoud on 27 July 1867 by the south ridge.
[Collomb, Robin, ''Bregaglia West'', Goring: West Col Productions, 1988] The mountain had first come to the notice of British alpinists from
D. W. Freshfield's writings of the 1860s. He gave the name 'the Grey Twins' to Piz Badile and
Piz Cengalo, and made the first ascent of Piz Cengalo in 1866.
[Engel, Claire, ''Mountaineering in the Alps'', London: George Allen and Unwin, 1971]
The two classic routes on Piz Badile are the north ridge and the ''Cassin Route'' on the north-east face. The north ridge – the ''Badilekante'' – was first prospected solo by the Swiss guide
Christian Klucker
Christian Klucker (28 September 1853 – 21 December 1928) was a Swiss mountain guide who made many first ascents in the Alps, particularly in the Bernina Range, the Bregaglia and the Pennine Alps.
Amongst his first ascents were:
:*''Gurgel'' ...
in 1892 (Klucker later made the first ascent of the Badile's west-south-west ridge with Anton von Rydzewski and M. Barbaria on 14 June 1897). After several unsuccessful attempts by Italian parties in 1911, the ridge (IV, one pitch of V-) finally fell to Alfred Zürcher with the guide Walter Risch on 4 August 1923. F. l'Orsa and
André Roch
André Roch (August 21, 1906 in Hermance, Switzerland – November 19, 2002 in Geneva) was a mountaineer, avalanche researcher and expert, skier, resort developer, engineer, and author. Roch is best known for having planned and surveyed the Aspe ...
found a more direct line on the ridge on the second ascent (18 July 1926).
[
The most popular route on the north-east face is the ''Cassin Route'' (V+/A0 or VI+), so-called after the first ascentionist ]Riccardo Cassin
Riccardo Cassin (2 January 19096 August 2009) was an Italian mountaineer, developer of mountaineering equipment and author, and an important figure in the history of rock climbing.
Life
Born into a peasant family at San Vito al Tagliamento in Fr ...
, who climbed it with V. Ratti and G. Esposito, together with the Como team of Mario Molteni and Giuseppe Valsecchi on 14–16 July 1937. Molteni and Valsecchi were already on the face when Cassin and his party started out, but the climbers subsequently joined forces. In this famous alpine epic, Molteni died of exhaustion and exposure on the summit, whilst Valsecchi died on the descent by the south ridge just before reaching the hut.[
]
Gallery
Image:Bergell Soglio mg-k.jpg, View from above Soglio of the Sciora peaks (left), Piz Cengalo (left centre) and Piz Badile (centre)
Image:Piz Badile.jpg, Piz Badile from the Val Bondasca
Image:Pizzo Badile and Capanna Giannetti - Val Masino - Italy.jpg, Piz Badile and the Giannetti hut from the south
Huts
* Giannetti hut (2,534 m)
* Sasc Furä hut (1,904 m)
* Sciora hut (2,118 m)
References
External links
Piz Badile on SummitPost
Piz Badile on Hikr
An account of an ascent of the north-east face of Piz Badile in 1961
{{DEFAULTSORT:Badile
Mountains of the Alps
Alpine three-thousanders
Great north faces of the Alps
International mountains of Europe
Italy–Switzerland border
Mountains of Lombardy
Mountains of Graubünden
Mountains of Switzerland
Val Bregaglia