Updates on Bivacco Bafile

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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.

Closure of Bivacco Bafile

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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/