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BIG Review 2009
August 2008: 8 BIG in 6 days
Giordano CASTAGNOLI
My ride with Amilcare
Monelletta in Trentino and
southern Tyrol to scale 8 BIG
in a few days.
Vista del Garda
Last week of August 2008, we
decided to go to Trentino and
attempt immediately Prati di
Nago (1 BIG N° 746) (5th
assent of Italy), which because
of rain I couldn’t do two years
ago at the end of UIC/BIG
meeting held in Trento. Just
the time to find the hotel at
Passo San Giovanni, close to
Lake Garda. We had no trouble
to achieve this first ascent, and
we enjoyed very much the
marvellous views of the lake
from Monte Baldo. The next
day, under advice of Tullio
Pavanelli, past UIC president,
we attempted the Vallarsa
valley towards the Pasubio area
with the goal: Passo
Campogrosso (2. BIG N° 729).
For us Italians, such mountains
remind us of the horrible 1°
World War; my grandfather
was a soldier and fought here
against the Austrians. We
enjoyed a delicious meal at the
pass, then proceeded up and
down until Posina where a very
beautiful ascent toward Passo
Borcola began. Almost 20
switchbacks took us to the top,
really a challenging road to
recommend to cycloclimbers.
We transfered by car the next
day to Tirol, a nice town close
to Meran in southern Tyrol.
Next BIG: Meran 2000 (3. BIG
N° 702). Among the different
ascents we completed on those
days, this was the less exciting
one, due to the heavy traffic
and numerous tunnels along the
way. However the ice cream
we enjoyed at the top was most
appreciated! Leonardo Battisti,
UIC member of Trento, joined
us the next day in Eppan;
together we had a pleasant ride
over Passo Mendola (4. BIG
N° 704) and Passo Palade (5.
BIG N° 703). We appreciated
71
the views of Lago Cristallo
below, between the two cols.
On Thursday we went to the
Alps, crossing the entire Val
Passiria and from S. Leonardo
climbing the long difficult
Timmelsjoch (6. BIG N° 614).
It was the first time for me, but
well known to Amilcare,
because this col is included in
the Oetztaler RadMarathon,
programmed for the end of
August. The numerous tunnels
along the road, especially the
one at the top with a length of
555 m and without lighting,
made the ascent an adventure.
With its elevation of 2.509 m,
it was the highest pass
completed this week. Our last
day in Southern Tyrol entailed
two other BIG passes: Passo
Giovo (7. BIG N° 700) and
Passo Pennes (8. BIG N° 701).
Almost three hours to climb
Passo Giovo, a long and
difficult ascent, lunch at the
top, down to Vipiteno and up
again towards Passo Pennes, 18
km ascent not too difficult but
with a lot of traffic; finally
back to Vipiteno and Passo
Giovo, easier from this side.
Thanks to the beautiful weather
accompanying us thoughout the
week we could achieve all of
our program, ignoring the
motorcyclists who invade such
beautiful roads with noise and
pollution.
Al Passo Palade