Val Daone - Machu Picchu
View route detailsShortly after an intense Chinese dinner, the “extreme” alarm goes off (according to Jacopo) at 3:05 a.m. A rushed breakfast and a gallop to the car, fully kitted out as if for an Arctic expedition. We meet up at our secret parking spot with Saverio and Jorge and, before we know it (6:45), we’re at Placido’s for breakfast. We’ve heard from Brozio that two icefalls are in good condition, so we head to check them out. We start on Machu Picchu, easy and fun. The ice is good, plastic, though at times quite wet. A lone climber overtakes us at a run. We then head to “La Porta del Sole,” climbing the first two pitches. The icefall is climbable, but saying it is in good condition would be a blatant lie: there is little ice and the first step is not well formed. Jorge’s miraculous special tea sends us racing back to the parking lot, from where we can see “Il Sogno del Gran Scozzese.” Beautiful, very beautiful—and apparently it has already received its first ascent of the day!
