Page Type:
|
Route |
|---|---|
Lat/Lon:
|
46.29503°N / 9.58669°E |
Route Type:
|
Mountaineering |
Season:
|
Summer |
|
Time Required:
|
A long day |
|
Difficulty:
|
ED (VI+ UIAA) |
|
Rock Difficulty:
|
5.10a (YDS) |
|
Number of Pitches:
|
18 |
|
Grade:
|
V |
|
Overview
Back in 1968, July, two young gentlement from UK, named Dick Isherwood and Mike Kosterlitz, spent few days in Val Masino. After some short but nice climb they headed for the their real project of the season: the first repetition of the Corti-Battaglia route on the Piz Badile East face.After few pitches, when the Corti-Battaglia takes on the very left, the two continued straight up, following a unique and long crack until almost the summit of the East wall. They spent a quite uncomfortable night on the wall and the day after they completed what since then has been known as the "via degli Inlgesi" that is "the English men route".
Don't miss the true story told by Dick Isherwood on the Alpine Journal in 1969. Find it here in PDF format
Getting There
From Bagni di Masino in Val Masino, Italy, you reach the Giannetti hut in about 2.5 hours. The day after you walk until the Cengalo Col along the Piz Cengalo normal route (about 1.5 hours). From the col you have a beatiful look on the north side and on the Piz Badile East face.From here follow a fixed rope for about 200 meters towards the East face. At its end you start rappeling. They are 6 pretty long rappels (60 meters ropes required) all quite in diagonal towards the East face. The last rappel takes you at the starting point of the route (about 2 hours from the Cengalo col)
Route Description
From the starting point, you simply can't get wrong as you have to follow the looooong crack until its end where there's a big roof to be avoided on its left. Then there's one last pitch that takes you out of the difficult part. From here, there are still about 200 meters on easier and loose rocks (pay attention!!!) before reaching the Piz Badile summit.From the beginning until the end of the difficult part, the route becomes more and more steeper, therefore the hardest pitches are the last ones.
Aid climbing is required if you don't climb it free (up to 7a / 7b according to others).
Consider 10 to 14 hours from start to summit.