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Monte Cimone in Spring

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Passo del Lupo (1540 m) Highest point: Monte Cimone (2165 m) Total elevation gain: ~625 m Total distance: ~7–8 km (round trip) Total time: ~2h30–3h (including breaks) Technical difficulty: Easy–moderate (more demanding in winter conditions) Download GPS file I was in Bologna for Easter and it was 25 degrees. On the other hand, the week before had been much colder and it had snowed in Italy, so we decided to take advantage of one last snowshoe/ski touring hike. We set off to Monte Cimone , in the province of Modena . At 2165 m, it is one of the highest peaks in Emilia-Romagna. I was with my dad and three of his friends from the Club Alpino Italiano — the youngest was about 30 years older than me 🙂 We started from Passo del Lupo , above Pian del Falco . Compared to my region in Switzerland, you even have to “earn” the starting point in the Apennines — it took almost two hours to get there from Bologna. But my group of pensioners knew how to live: w...
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Les Chaux form Gryon

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Download GPS file This hike starts at the Parking Les Frasses above La Babeleuse in Gryon. You can get there via a small road forking up hill in front of the Babeleuse parking. I did this hike as a snowshoe. In fact I wanted to do it as a skitouring hike but I had forgotten my skins at home... The hike is part of the Villars-Gryon randopark, a very well marked and kept set of winter trails. The trail starts uphill in front along the ski slope. I confess that I did not fully follow the path, especially at the lower part, because the slope was closed and the path was not well covered. So I preferred to go straight up on the slope which is a bit steeper. After 20-30 min you'll cross the blue slope and then after another 5 min the trail becomes less steep and then completely flattens going next to a couple of chalets. When it starts to climb again it is the best part of the trail. You go on a ridge abd see the slopes below and mountains all around. You will reach a crossroads where sev...
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Location: Gryon, Switzerland
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Corno alle Scale: An easy ski touring in Italy

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Corno alle Scale lifts / Rifugio Cavone (1470 m) Highest point: Corno alle Scale summit cross (1945 m) Total elevation gain:  470 m Total distance:  3.8 km Total time:  1.5-2 hours (one way) Technical difficulty: Easy–Moderate (non-technical) Download GPS file Here we are! For the first time, I leave the Alps. This is the first post describing a hike in another ridge: the Apennines in Italy, not far from Bologna , my hometown (not far as the crow flies, but with busy and horrible roads it still takes about 1h50 to get there). This hike starts at the Corno alle Scale lifts, next to Rifugio Cavone (1470 m), and leads to the summit of the Corno. I did it in winter as a ski touring outing.¨ The starting point is a small side road between Rifugio Cavone and the lifts. After passing behind an old abandoned building, you reach the slopes. You can start going uphill along their edge, but soon a road branches left into the w...
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Location: Corno alle Scale, 40042 Lizzano in Belvedere, Metropolitan City of Bologna, Italy
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An early snowshoe at La Berra

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🗺️  Overview Starting point: Parking of La Berra ski resort (≈1040 m) Highest point: Chalet La Berra (≈1640 m) — optional summit at 1719 m Total elevation gain: ~600 m Total distance: ~4.6 km Total time: ~2h10 Technical difficulty: Easy–Moderate (snowshoe) Download GPS file Somehow I always end up going to La Berra in winter. Located in one of the last French-speaking towns of Fribourg, La Berra is a cute little ski resort with about 20 km of ski slopes and 18 km of snowshoe trails. The hike I did starts from the very end of the parking lot of the ski resort (1040 m), where a pink start flag marks the entrance. N.B.: The path didn’t exist in my app, so the GPS file isn’t exact, even though the trail isn’t far off. From the very beginning, the route dives directly into the forest and is well marked. The least well-marked point is actually near the start, by a small iron bridge with lots of tracks leading to it. The marked path is not there—just go straigh...
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Location: La Berra, 1654 Val-de-Charmey, Switzerland
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Tour de Gourze: An autumn stroll for the whole family

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🗺️ Overview Starting point: Lac de Bret (700 m) Highest point: Tour de Gourze (939 m) Total elevation gain: ~310 m Total distance: ~7 km Total time: 2.5 h (adult) / 5 h with small child (including picnic & play) Technical difficulty: Easy – suitable for families and children Download GPS file The Tour de Gourze stands at the very beginning of the Alps, in the gentle Prealpine hills just above the Lavaux area. It was a sunny November day when I decided to go with Gaia. You can reach the tower from several sides. The route I describe here starts from Lac de Bret , above Puidoux (700 m). You can park your car by the lakeshore next to the restaurant. At the corner of the lake, a small asphalt road climbs upward — there are hiking signs, though no destinations indicated yet. After a short ascent, the path briefly descends, where you’ll find the first signposts pointing left to Puidoux and right to Tour de Gourze . The climb resumes on the asphalt road, p...
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Location: Tour de Gourze, Gourze 1, 1097 Riex, Switzerland
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