Valle Leventina

Climbing and camping in the Valle Leventina

A multi-day climbing and camping tour in the quiet back country of the Leventina. From Ambrì-Piotta you climb in about three hours to the beautifully set Capanna Leit — the gneiss underfoot glitters, and a huge fold of marble runs through the rock. A short, steep pull leads to the pass and across to the Alpe Lei di Cima, where the Lago di Morghirolo opens up: a glowing turquoise patch in a raw, grey landscape. The climbing routes and multi-pitches of the Capanna Campo Tencia lie around the lake and at Piano di Lei.

Tip: Choose your tent spot with care. Rockfall comes down off the walls of the Tre Corni — pitch at a safe distance from the scree slopes. The nicer, warmer spot is further down by the stream, with a boulder right beside it.

How it went for me

It was cold the whole tour, seemingly under ten degrees throughout, but beautiful. We made our first camp a little above the Lago di Morghirolo and spent the evening practising abseils and a few routes. In the night an unbelievably loud rockslide woke us, coming down the scree slope right above the tent — we sprinted out and took cover behind big blocks, saw the sparks where stones struck each other, and got dust in our faces. The tent was fine; in the morning we saw the big chunks had come to rest about 50 metres short of it. We moved 500 metres on, behind a large rock, still in the night. The next day we climbed multi-pitches and easy sport routes, dropped down a bit and camped gloriously by the stream, with a boulder full of good grade-4 routes right beside us. The last day’s descent led through larch woods and alps, already very autumnal — we just made the booked time, but we were nearly running. A really lovely, cold tour.