Club Trip to Lake Garda, Italy Print
Peaks Mountaineering Club Trip To Lake Garda

October Bank Holiday Weekend 2009

 

Photo - Maureen Maher

 

Report by Helen Shanahan

By the time most sane people were on their first cup of coffee, 19 explorers from the club touched down in Milan-Bergamo airport. Our base was the sleepy little town of Ronzo 20 minutes north of Lake Garda in northern Italy. The largest of the Italian lakes, Lake Garda is 34 mi (54 km) long and 2 to 11 mi (3 to 18 km) wide, with a shoreline of 77.5 mi (125 km).

The mountains explored were the Bondone-Stivo range which are part of The Eastern Alps. Although the eastern Alps do not reach the altitude found in Western Alps, in these groups respectively smaller areas are covered with glaciers. The Bondone-Stivo group offer unforgettable panoramas on Adige Valley, Paganella, the Brenta Group, the Adamello glaciers and Garda Lake.

 

Climbing the Stivo Ridge to Cima Alta Photo - Maureen Maher

Day 1

After travelling and a pit stop for lunch we were out on the range with a pleasant walk to Monte Creino. From here the vista of Lake Garda opened before us and on the way down we explored some World War 1 trenches. These are very well preserved with stone walls and a very sobering experience to think of the conditions endured down there
Day 2
Our route was from the hamlet of Santa Barbara up to Monte Stivo (2059 m), over to Cima Alta (1847 m) and then down to the Bordala Pass. Stivo is a nice mountain that overlooks the town of Rovereto in Vallagarina.
It is part of the Bondone-Stivo range and it lies between two Valleys: Vallagarina and Valle dei Laghi. The 360 degree panorama from the summit is spectacular showing the Carega group, the Piccole Dolomiti and Pasubio, the Adamello Presanella ,Carè Alto, Brenta group, Lagorai, Vigolana, Bondone, and Garda Lake. The best surprise of all was the Marchetti Refuge perched at the top. We were greeted with a roaring log fire and a full lunch menu was available.
The group then trekked over to Cima Alta at 1847 m high. The summit is a peaceful place to view the entire Stivo - Bondone range and far below the Lagarina and Sarca Valleys. At the top was a visitor book where we all signed our names for posterity. The final part of the trek through woodland to Bordala pass was ablaze with autumn colours and crunchy leaves underfoot.

Day

Photo- Maureen Maher

Day 3

The group split in two on Day 3 with some doing the Via Ferrata and the rest climbing Monte Biaena.

 

 

Peaks Via Ferrata Group scaling the Gorge          Photo - Ber O Donnell

 

Via ferrata to Castel Drena
This is a very special via ferrata: situated in a canyon which used to be a secret escape path from Drena Castle located at the top of the gorge. The course of the via ferrata is only slightly above the bottom of the canyon. We followed the iron ropes and the iron steps. At the end of the route was a swinging iron bridge on which we got to exercise our balance. The final steep path lead us to Drena Castle.

 

Peaks Mountaineering Club - Masters of all they survey Photo - Maureen Maher

Monte Biaena

The rest of the group climbed to Monte Biaena at 1618 m. From the top the group enjoyed fine panoramic views of Leno's valleys, of the Vallagarina, of Monte Baldo and Garda Lake.
Riva Del Garda
We rounded out the trip with an afternoon exploring the town of Riva Del Garda on the north of the lake. A spot of shopping and coffee shop exploring was on the cards.
Nightlife
As you can imagine after all of this activity the group were too bushwhacked to cause much of a stir in the evenings. Reports of spontaneous Riverdance demo’s, impromptu fashion shows modelling Italian boots, and dragging the locals out on the dance floor (which was actually the dining room) are greatly exaggerated.