New bivouac on Gran Sasso: Bivacco Desiati

by isaziHiking, NewsPosted on No Comments

In the Vallone della Fornaca (Fornaca Valley), between the Prena and Camicia mountains, there was no emergency shelter since the old Lubrano bivouac was destroyed by a storm in 1999. And since the Fonte Vetica hut burned down in a fire few years ago, there was no shelter at all in the south-western area of the massif.

Luckily, the situation has recently changed: in November 2024, 25 years later after the Lubrano was destroyed, a new bivouac has been installed in the same area where the Lubrano was. The new bivouac is called Bivacco Piergiorgio Desiati, in memory of a doctor of the alpine search and rescue team of L’Aquila.

The Bivacco Desiati is located in the Vallone della Fornaca, at an altitude of 1815 meters / 5954 feet above sea level. It is already present on OpenStreetMap (and all the derived map products), and Diego (a YouTube user) recently posted a video of the bivouac in winter conditions.

Updates on Bivacco Bafile

by isaziClimbing, Hiking, NewsPosted on No Comments

The L’Aquila chapter of the Italian Alpine Club posted an update (in Italian) on the situation of the Bivacco Bafile on the 28th of October 2024.

During the summer the bivouac, badly damaged, was deemed unsafe and the club asked hikers and climbers to stop using it for the time being. As of this week, the bivouac is permanently closed and ready to be moved. Until the structure of the bivouac is moved, it is also illegal to access the area where it is located. Pictures of the locked Bivacco Bafile can be found on the club’s update post.

Biodiversity in the Central Appennines

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In an article recently published in the Journal of Vegetation Science, a team of scientists of the Tuscia University found a very high level of biodiversity in the prairies of the Central Appennines in the regions of Abruzzo and Lazio.

They counted the species of plants and lichens in 97 plots, each measuring 10 square meters, in the Central Appennines, and found a mean level of species richness of 52, with a max of 85, in areas in and around our national parks.

In particular, considering that the highest number of species ever recorded in a plot of the same size is 101, the result of 85 measured in a plot in the National Park of Abruzzo Lazio and Molise is another remarkable example of how rich the nature in our region is, and how important is to protect it.

Centralized booking system for CAI huts

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The Italian Alpine Club (CAI) has recently inaugurated a centralized online booking system for all huts owned by the club. The new system makes the booking of stays easier, especially for people that do not speak Italian.

In Abruzzo there are four CAI owned huts:

The new booking systems is active from the Summer of 2024.

Closure of Bivacco Bafile

by isaziClimbing, Hiking, NewsPosted on No Comments

The Bivacco Bafile (Bafile Bivouac) is an emergency shelter on the south-east ridge of the central summit of Corno Grande (Gran Sasso range). It is located at 2669 meters / 8756 feet above sea level and is accessible from Campo Imperatore via a hiking trail and a ferrata. Built in 1966 by the L’Aquila section of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI), it provides both emergency shelter from bad weather, and easy access to various climbing routes on the south face of Corno Grande. It is also very popular with hikers (equipped with harness, helmet, a ferrata kit, and no fear for exposure) who want to spend the night at altitude and see the sun rise over the Adriatic sea in the morning.

After 58 years in service, the bivouac was badly damaged by a storm during the 2023/2024 winter, and the CAI section of L’Aquila declared [1] that the structure is not safe anymore, and should not be used during the current season.

The good news is that they already got the funding for a new bivouac, that will be placed in the spot of the old one during the summer of 2025, while the old structure will be removed in the fall of 2024, repaired, and it will find a new home in the city of L’Aquila.

[1] https://cailaquila.it/inagibilita-del-bivacco-andrea-bafile/

Sentiero del Centenario: closed

by isaziHiking, NewsPosted on No Comments

As you may remember, in February 2024 the L’Aquila chapter of the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) upgraded the rating of the Centenario trail from a hike to an alpine route, due to the conditions of the equipped sections of the trail.

Unfortunately, on the 29th of May of this year the municipality of L’Aquila announced the immediate closure of the trail with an executive order; you can find the order here (in Italian). While the order only covers the section of the trail that is located in the territory of L’Aquila, the other municipalities that are crossed by the trail also published similar orders.

Therefore, the Centenario trail must be considered closed, and considering the time it may take to fix all the equipped sections, this situation may last for years. A sad day for our beloved region.

Abruzzo Mountain Race 2024

by isaziTrail RunningPosted on No Comments

The “Abruzzo Mountain Race” is a series of trail running events taking place in our region. While all events are independent from each other, and a runner can choose to only participate in one or some of them, there will be a special ranking for people that participate and finish all of them.

The races of the 2024 edition are:

  • Skytrail del Voltigno – May 5th
    • Distance: 33 km / 20.5 mi
    • Ascent: 2120 m / 6955 ft
  • Skyrace del Mammut – May 19th
    • Distance: 21 km / 13 mi
    • Ascent: 1480 m / 4855 ft
  • UTGS30 – July 14th
    • Distance: 31.7 km / 19.7 mi
    • Ascent: 2070 m / 6791 ft
  • Monte Amaro Extreme – July 28th
    • Distance: 29.5 km / 18.3 mi
    • Ascent: 2400 m / 7874 ft
  • La Sirentina Trail – September 29th
    • Distance: 29.5 km / 18.3 mi
    • Ascent: 1330 m / 4363 ft

It is important to remember, especially for foreigners that have never raced in Italy, that to participate in events like this one it is required to be a member of a registered sports club, and have a medical certificate that qualifies you to participate in a competitive running event.
For what concerns the club membership, it is often possible to temporarily join the sports club organizing the event for a small fee, usually between 5 and 20 euro. As for the medical certificate, foreigners can ask their doctor to write them one; large events, such as the UTMB Lavaredo Ultra Trail (LUT), provide a standardized form for all non Italian participants. While this particular form is not valid for any other event than the LUT, you can show it to your doctor as an example of what is required to race in Italy.

New climbing guidebook: Abruzzo Rock

by isaziClimbing, Sport ClimbingPosted on 2 Comments

Great news for all climbers: Versante Sud, the famous Italian guidebook publisher, published Abruzzo Rock, the newest guide to sport climbing crags in our region.

The guidebook is available online and in selected bookshops (and climbing gyms) in Italy, and it does not have an English translation, although it should be fairly easy to use even for non Italian speakers.

Buying a copy of the book will also give you a code for the iClimbing app, from which you can download an electronic copy of the guide and see all crags on a map.

Issues on the Centenario trail

by isaziHiking, Mountaineering, NewsPosted on One Comment

The Centenario trail is one of the most iconic trails of the Gran Sasso massif. It starts from Vado di Corno and ends in Fonte Vetica, going through most of the west ridge of the massif, reaching the top of Brancastello, Torri di Casanova, Infornace, Prena, and Camicia. The trail is around 17 kilometers / 10.5 miles long with more than 1700 meters / 5577 feet of ascent. There is also a Strava Segment of the trail.

On the Italian rating scale for trails it is usually marked as EEA: meaning only experienced hikers with the right equipment should attempt it. The reason is that some sections of the ridge, in particular from the Torri di Casanova to the summit of Monte Camicia, require some scrambling or are equipped with ladders and steel cables.

On the 22nd of February 2024 the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) section of L’Aquila published a notice [1] (in Italian) saying that, because of the poor conditions of some of the equipped sections of the trail, the Centenario should not be considered anymore a hike but an alpine route, and therefore should be attempted only by people with alpine experience and the right equipment.

[1] https://cailaquila.it/avviso-sentiero-del-centenario/

Skytrail del Voltigno 2023

by isaziEvent, Trail RunningPosted on No Comments

The fifth edition of the Voltigno Skytrail will take place Sunday the 7th of May, 2023. The skyrunning event will start and end in the small village of Villa Celiera, a town known in Abruzzo for the quality of its arrosticini.

There will be two races taking place during the event: (1) a skytrail of 18.7 kilometers / 11.6 miles with 1230 meters / 4035 feet of ascent, and (2) a skymarathon of 32.6 kilometers / 20.2 miles with 2130 meters / 6988 feet of ascent.

It is important to remember, especially for foreigners that have never raced in Italy, that to participate in events like this one it is required to be a member of a registered sports club, and have a medical certificate that qualifies you to participate in a competitive running event.
For what concerns the club membership, it is often possible to temporarily join the sports club organizing the event for a small fee, usually between 5 and 20 euro. As for the medical certificate, foreigners can ask their doctor to write them one; large events, such as the UTMB Lavaredo Ultra Trail (LUT), provide a standardized form for all non Italian participants. While this particular form is not valid for any other event than the LUT, you could provide it to your doctor as an example.

More information is available on the ITRA page of the event, or (in Italian) on the official website of the organizers, the Villa Celiera Ski Club.