Punta Giordani and Vincent Pyramid via the Cresta del Soldato

The last one I was missing in the Monte Rosa massif and its many 4000ers. 77/82, and above all my first 4000er with Amandine!

The normal route up Punta Giordani follows the Indren glacier and isn't especially interesting; on the other hand, I had had my eye on this Cresta del Soldato for a while (named by a Briton in August 1884, while he was exploring the SE ridge of the coveted summit together with an Italian soldier tasked with watching the border). A very friendly rocky ridge, “a fun and entertaining route on excellent rock”, which seemed just right for a lovely outing with Amandine.

Fine conditions on the said ridge and up to the summit of Punta Giordani (4046 m), before the weather started to deteriorate, leaving us just enough time to climb the neighbouring Vincent Pyramid (4215 m) and hurry to the nearby Giordano bivouac.

Fairly pleased with the timing and the way the outing was managed; well done too to Amandine for these 2 fine summits and for battling a playful wind and a serious case of the hot aches.

At the Giordano bivouac, however, within a few hours we went from a very quiet, remote setup to a real display of total carelessness (not to say genuine recklessness). We had arrived first at 3 p.m., but then 3 Hungarians, then 3 Germans, and finally 2 Italians turned up at ungodly hours, completely drained, in the dark, in the middle of the storm (thankfully really not a bad one), without the right equipment, without any means of navigation (2 rope teams didn't have a single map!!)...

Anyway, we were kind and passed round our stove and the blankets so that everyone could get some decent rest, but honestly, such attitudes raise serious questions. The conclusion is pretty unforgiving: seeing people (even though they are all nice and full of goodwill) take on such mountaineering routes without the slightest preparation beforehand, and without any margin in terms of the human factor / terrain / weather, makes it easy to understand why there have been so many accidents and deaths in the Italian Alps this summer... This time the rope teams in question got away with it, but for the Germans it came close to turning into a tragedy.

We wake up the next morning to find weather conditions even harsher than forecast. With 10-15 cm of treacherous fresh snow over the crevasses, we settle for quietly going back up to the summit of the Vincent Pyramid, in a howling gale but with more visibility than the day before, before heading back down to the valley.

And as with any Aosta Valley outing worthy of the name, we make a point of honouring the region's cuisine and local produce!

Thank you Amandine for your good mood and your motivation, and well done again!