Cima SAT (Attempt)

Published on 2010-4-2 by Michael Stanton

Cima SAT (Attempt)

April 2, 2010

Around 9:15 PM I hiked up the usual way to Cima SAT, planning to take the via ferrata to the summit. Signs warned of explosive work. I ignored this and kept going. Finally, near the chapel high on the face I came to the area of trail work. A house had been destroyed, and an ocean of dirt and tree limbs spilled down the mountain. Here I foolishly missed the turn off for the via ferrata, and found myself wandering on top of the rubble looking for the ferrata cable. Eventually I found a climbing rope hanging straight down a cliff. Figuring that the route was destroyed, I resolved to take a side trail on the other side of the chapel and then up to the summit. I'd come down that way before. It is quite an airy route, at one point requiring the climb of a 50 meter high ladder.

At about 1100 meters elevation, the trail became peppered with some snow, and soon it increased enough for me to worry. Getting down this would be tough in tennis shoes, and the steepness of the trail left no margin for error. Plus it was midnight. Hmm. Time to beat a retreat. I was glad I did because descending only a few icy/snowy switchbacks was already nerve-wracking. I descended with the inky black of the Garda Lake below and the Christmas-tree lights of the town. Eerily, I heard singing from a church. Rather eerie up there this time! 3.5 hours round trip, 1100 meters elevation gain.