The Sorcerer, Ghost Valley

The Sorcerer, Ghost Valley

Sunday, 27 January 2013

Cogne

Amazing weather & a very scenic drive over from Leysin to Cogne yesterday.

The main roundabout when entering Cogne

The village of Cogne sits high above the Val d'Aosta at an altitude of 1,534m which is great when it comes to reliable ice!
Cogne's also know for it's 70km of Ski de Fonde trails which run up & down the main 3 valley's.
The ski trails are world renown here with many national championships held in Cogne every year.
Climbers are reminded to stay off the pistes & to stay on the walking trails.........


We stayed in La Chateau Royal last night before heading up in Valnonty today


La Chateau Royal Residence - self catering apartments in Cogne owned by the Herren family who also own Hotel La Barme in Valnonty 


Well known in Cogne & Aosta for his wood carvings, Giuseppe Ouvrier's work is all around the village with carvings such as this one outside one of the hotels close to La Chateau Royal in Cogne.

We headed up Valnonty today & climbed Gran Val, grade III, which was in fantastic condition.

Victor Saunders climbing the second pitch of Gran Val, Valnonty, Cogne


Dave arriving at the top of pitch 3 on Gran Val, Valnonty, Cogne

Great conditions in Cogne at the moment -

A great view across to - Repentance Super grade 6 on the left, Monday Money grade 4 & Flash Estivo grade 3/4 on the right.
A couple of guys climbed Repentance Super today & said that it was in good condition, Monday Money looks great.............

An unknown climber on Repentance Super seen from Monday Money

The bottom pitches of Patri grade 4/5 which we climbed a couple of weeks ago which was & still is in great condition

A busy day on Patri a couple of weeks ago - you can see the upper pitches of both Patri de gauche grade 4 & Patri de droite grade 4+/5
There were people of both these routes today & their still in great condition with Patri de droite fatter than seen here from a couple of weeks ago.

'Il Sentiero dei Troll' grade 3, 350m seen here today with teams on it & looking in great shape

'Valmiana' grade 3, 350m also seen here today & looking in great shape

'Thoule' grade 3+/4, 100m also looks in good condition although I didn't see any teams on it

Conditions improved a lot since I was last here a couple of weeks ago......&  most routes in great condition.

Looking forward to heading into Valeille tomorrow.

Safe climbing

Ade


1 comment:

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