UKH

Heading out in a few weeks with the Cassin in mind, does anybody know what conditions are like atm? I know the Alps has more snow than previous seasons currently. 

I don’t know what the Badile looks like but there’s plenty of snow from 2000m in Engadin, not so far away.

Hi Joe

The Sasc Fura Hut website has a Piz Badile 360 webcam which gives a long shot of it when placed in a South East direction :

https://bregagliaturismo.roundshot.com/soglio/#/

https://www.sascfura.ch/

Good luck as it is a superb area and great mountain. And the 11 pitch Bugeleisen or Flat Iron is an excellent warm up route from the Sciora Hut, presuming it is not currently affected by rockfall!

Cheers

Dave

That´s a great webcam! You can speed it up with the menu under "Soglio" on the L, then stop it in the right position and zoom in using the +/- next to the compass (maybe you can do that on all webcams? Never looked for those features before). Looks to be quite a bit of white stuff still on the face, but high temps and rain forecast for the WE; what´s happening in a few weeks is anyone´s guess.

Seconding your opinion on the area and the mountain(s)! @joe.91 - just watch out for thunderstorms; when we did the Cassin we got caught near the top at 10 am, the forecast had said 17.00

Quite.

As I climbed up the chimney system high on the route, I recall thinking how lucky to be enjoying the friction climbing on cool dry rock and what a nightmare they would be in a storm.

Yes I've heard many times to avoid the storms.

Looking at the webcam, no idea which bit I need to look at! 

Difficult to describe but the Badile is the small shovel shaped rocky peak on the centre right skyline. From the near-centre left stone building, it is directly above the chimney if you draw a line up to the sky. Then you can zoom in a fair way using the zoom or + icon by the compass so you can see the North Ridge looks relatively snow free whereas what you can see of the NE face (where the Cassin is) still looks quite snowy! As McHeath says what it will be like in a few weeks is anyone's guess...

This is the NW face; the N ridge slopes down leftwards from the highest point, and the NE face with the Cassin route is hidden behind it. Piz Cengalo stands on the left.

Mcheath's photo actually shows the NW face of the Badile (the top of NE face is just poking out to the left).  It should give you an idea of snow conditions though.

A friend of my partner lives in Milano.  They said that the spring weather was flip-flopping between rain and serious heat from N.Africa.

Good luck with the Cassin. It's still on my list.

 I realized my mistake immediately and edited it, our posts must have crossed - thanks all the same!

Yes, we were lucky to be above the chimneys and simul-climbing the easy slabs to the summit ridge when the hail started; 20 minutes later they’d turned into waterfalls, the whole upper part of the face is a huge funnel leading into them.

Been there, experienced that, but fortunately not on the Cassin exit chimneys. You forgot to mention the lightening tracking down the cracks, that the waterfalls often contain rocks and turn to verglas when the storm clears.

I wonder which way Joe is planning to descend?

As you are no doubt aware Rick, some folks ab the North Ridge and a few even ab down Another Day in Paradise but I've heard a few horrorshow stories!

I would always recommend descending t'other side into Italy, spending the night at the lovely Gianetti Hut. Stuff yourself with great food and quaff vino tinto before walking down the next day to Bagni del Masino and getting a lift or taxi back around to Bondo.

Apparently the "walk" back to the Sasc Fura from the Gianetti via the 2 cols is a shocker as well... 😉

Cheers

Dave

You mean the route over Passo Trubinasca. Whereas it is not just a walk, it is a great alpine trail with chains where needed. Apparently not that difficult for a group of younger Italians who came up from the Swiss side wearing only sneakers and t-shirts - and wearing their baseball caps backwards…

Closed for the foreseeable I think.

And just to repeat, I’m just back from Switzerland near the Italian border (Val Mustair area) and there really is loads of snow from 2000m, a lot of meltwater, bridges washed away etc.

We abbed the N ridge to avoid having to go on up and over the summit in the thunderstorm. We had twin ropes and teamed up with another pair from the Cassin who also had them, we could leapfrog and save time on the setting up of the next ab, so we were as fast as possible (still took 7 hours, the storm never let up and the ropes started to freeze). Probably not advisable in good weather though if the ridge is full of people coming up.

I’d done the Trubinasca route between the huts a few years before our Cassin ascent and remember it as being a magical if strenuous morning through a beautiful landscape. We started early and got to the Sasc Fura hut in time for breakfast. Two guys from the Swiss Mountain Rescue were just finishing breakfast; 10 minutes later they boarded their waiting heli, rose lazily about 10m into the air, the pilot then tipped the nose by 45 degrees and shot off down the mountainside just above the treetops. Breathtaking display of aviation skills, and all for free