Mezzaluna Tower

Introduction

A short half-day excursion that very few times in winter can be tackled safely. The second part of the route, leaving the bottom of the Val Tronella, forces one to cut steep slopes laden with powdery snow that - never reached by the sun - settles in a very long time. The route in its last few hundred metres (at the entrance to the actual gully) may require the use of an ice axe and crampons for a short horizontal crossing of a 60° ice flow treacherously covered in snow. The actual Torrione 2333 m presents mountaineering difficulties (IV+ adhering section) that cannot be tackled with ski mountaineering equipment. 

Description

From the forecourt at Pescegallo (Pesc = spruce; gal = black grouse) 1454m, go alongside the service buildings for the chairlift - snow groomer's shed - and head towards an isolated hut. Shortly before reaching it, there are signs for "Rif.Benigni" and "Lago di Trona" and then take the path that climbs up into the beautiful white fir forest. [There is not always a passing track]. After an up-and-down traverse, the path begins a steep section with very short hairpin bends in the thick forest; soon you reach a chain of clearings with a gentler slope until you come to a hut with signs. We come to the last offshoots of the Denti della Vecchia ('Filun de la Roca'), the short but articulated crest that divides the Pescegallo basin from the Val Tronella. One climbs to the left of the hut along beautiful open slopes, which follow one another in a discrete ascent separated by tree-lined narrows. Once you have passed the tall vegetation, at about 1800 m, on a semi-plan, you arrive at the very small reservoir of the Sorgente di Tronella; walk carefully along the crown of the small dam (maximum width 50 cm) and head for the wide spur below the characteristic spout of the Torrione di Mezzaluna. Carefully ascend the succession of sloping terraces in narrow bends until you are forced to converge into the gully on the left: assess the possibility and advisability of making the traverse that allows you to reach the bottom. The wide gully is always and precociously traversed by a large avalanche, but any subsequent snowfall can make it equally pleasant to traverse. Following it, you reach the shelf at the base of the Torrione di Mezzaluna, approx. 2200 m. Descent by the outward route. Be careful on the opposite slope, which is completely impassable.