José Angster Ferrata

Introduction

This short, very scenic ferrata is the ideal route for those who want to experience the thrill of the first overhangs. The approach times are short and the height difference modest. If you wish, you can walk down the children's ferrata, looping the two Gressoney-Saint-Jean ferratas in the same exit.

Description

The start of the ferrata is immediately vertical, then the slope softens, you pass under the arrival of a tyrolean, continue up a slab and after a slippery ledge that ends with a couple of steps you arrive at the junction with the children's ferrata. The itinerary continues along fairly corrugated slabs until reaching a traverse to the right, from which the peaks of the Monte Rosa massif, which close the Gressoney valley at the top, can be comfortably admired. Pass the north side of the spur where the key passage of the ferrata is located: after a short, fairly corrugated section, the wall arches towards the vertical and then slightly overhanging. Continue along a very short traverse to the left, still beyond the vertical, and leave the challenging part, reaching a slope where the ferrata is reduced to little more than a path. Then the rock climbs again, and with one last effort you reach the small statue of the Madonna in front of which there is a very exposed bench overlooking the village of Gressoney and Lake Gover. Then with one last very short overhang you reach the end of the ferrata and the meadow surrounding a beautiful hut built of stone and wood. The altitude stated on the signpost (1750 m) is probably approximate by excess.

Return

From the end of the ferrata you reach the Tschachteljatz alpine pasture in a few minutes, where you will find the signpost indicating an altitude of 1750 m, probably approximate by excess. Path no. 4A passes to the left and is followed downhill first alongside the rock face where some climbing routes are marked, then through the coniferous forest until it crosses path no. 15, known as the Queen's path. Continue the steep descent to the Gover lake and then head towards the centre of Gressoney and the car park, retracing the approach route. Return from the children's ferrata From the end of the ferrata, it takes only a few minutes to reach the alp known as Tschachteljatz, where there is a sign indicating an altitude of 1750 m, presumably an approximate excess. Path 4A passes to the left and is followed downhill alongside the rock face, where several climbing routes are marked. At the second crossroads, take the path to the left that first goes flat towards the climbing hall and then with a short ascent reaches the arrival point of the children's ferrata. One descends a very steep six-metre-high slab then descends to the foot of the rock face until reaching some steps right on the vertical of the Gover lake. Pass under a small roof and continue slightly downhill along the ledge to the start of the ferrata. At the end of the green cable, follow the small path to the start of the Angster ferrata and retrace the approach route to the car. Curiosity The Sentiero della Regina (Queen's Path) is so called in honour of Queen Margherita of Savoy (to whom the pizza of the same name was dedicated) who spent her holidays in Gressoney for 36 years from 1889 to 1925. Born in 1851 to Ferdinand of Savoy, brother of King Victor Emmanuel II, and Elisabeth of Saxony, the most beautiful lady of the court of Turin, whose father translated the Divine Comedy into German, she had a lady of Viennese origin as her governess. She married Umberto di Savoia, the future king of Italy and her first cousin, in 1868. She spoke French and Piedmontese dialect well, languages in use at the Savoy court, and from her mother and housekeeper she had learnt German. It was perhaps this language, combined with the splendour of the nature of this valley, that bound her for so many years to her holiday resort of Gressoney. In the early years, the queen was hosted in the villa owned by Baron Beck Peccoz, who had met her in Courmayeur in 1888. Later, having fallen in love with the area, she had Castel Savoia built, where she stayed from 1904 until 1925.