This was the day our Alta Via 2 encounter ended. Bogged down with several days of rain, the forecast had predicted up to 50cm of snow in our region.
We were in an area that gave us access to a cable car, so we ascended to our scheduled hut – Rifugio Rosetta so that we would be prepared to start early should the weather be compatible.
Rifugio Rosetta itself was nicely comfortable. Lots of wet travelers, a drying room, central fireplace. We had a small dorm room but had it to ourselves which was nice.
If the weather was not compatible we would have an exit.
There were complications with the path today in that there were three options. Two with Via Ferrate and one without.
As we started our day, snow began to fell. We chose to go with no Via in that our experience with wet Via is not good.
We won’t know until we return if this was the correct choice or not. About an hour in the snow began to stick and we arrived at a steep traverse around a peak with no protection.
While in dry weather there would be no issue in moving slowly along, with the footing deteriorating and the wet snow providing a layer of slippery, progress was getting to be quite difficult.
Technically we could have continued, but not knowing how much further until more level ground; our collective fatigue at the past few days of bad weather and the threat of ongoing bad weather and this being the last spot for a relatively easy exit from the path, we chose to abandon.
Disappointing but it was the correct decision in our “we can always come back again” state of mind.
Upon reflection over the following days and even months, we learned a lot. We will try to cut half the weight out of our packs, removing stuff we did not use or feel we would never need.
We plan to return to complete the Alta Via 2 in the summer of 2021
