A tad tougher than the Tour of the Bernina, the Alta Via Valmalenco has eight memorable stages accounting for 93.5km. Allow eight full days, unless you are tight for time, in which case you could do the six-day version outlined in the relevant chapter. On the other hand, by all means stretch it out into 11 days – several stages lend themselves to earlier stopovers at well-run refuges located at handy intermediate spots. Unsuitable for novice trekkers, the route requires a decent level of fitness along with some experience in alpine environments. Rough terrain is encountered at times, although straightforward alternatives are always given. The highest point reached is 2813m, but there are no glacier crossings. Accommodation is in six alpine refuges and two hotels.
The start/finish – the villages of Santa Maria/Chiesa in Valmalenco – are easily reached by bus (see Getting there, below) and several other entry or exit points are suggested in the trek chapter. The Alta Via is described clockwise here in accordance with the creators’ original plan, with stage timings given in the information boxes, as well as times between key points in blue bold text throughout the route descriptions. You could, however, choose to walk it in the reverse direction, and relevant approximate times for each stage when walked anti-clockwise are also provided in the stage information boxes.
LANGUAGES
Quite a kaleidoscope of tongues can be heard in the area. In Switzerland’s Engadine district German prevails, although coming a close second is the ancient Romansch language, which is still widely used – both orally and in place names – and taught at the valley schools. The neighbouring Swiss Val Poschiavo, on the other hand, is 90% Italian speaking; a glance at the map will explain why, as geographically it ‘belongs’ to Italy. In the adjacent Valmalenco Italian is the dominant language, although the local Malenco dialect is common in villages and pasture alike.
English is fairly widely spoken in the Swiss valleys, a little less so in Italy.
It’s common habit to greet other walkers on the path, so in Switzerland there’s the choice between grüezi (Swiss German), allegra (Romansch) or Grüss Gott (German); and in Italy buongiorno.
A glossary of the German, Italian and Romansch terms you’re likely to encounter along the way can be found in Appendix A.
About glaciers
The flow of the Pers glacier from Diavolezza (TB, Stage 8)
Glaciers are a fundamental feature of these landscapes, and the snail-slow downhill movement of these immense bodies of ice, dragged by gravity, shapes the terrain. Curiously, in Valmalenco the majority of the alp summer farms are located at around the 2000-metre mark, which coincides with the ancient level of the valley floor prior to the great glaciation.
Ice ages come and go, and when the rate of melting during the warmer months exceeds that of maintaining the glaciers’ status quo, the masses gradually lose volume and retreat, often leaving behind a typical U-shaped trough. The bedrock surface thus exposed is both smooth and scratched, being grooved by rocks that are trapped in the ice and drawn along.
Roches moutonnées
Glacially rounded outcrops are known as roches moutonnées – the name making for a curious tale. It would suggest their resemblance to recumbent sheep, but in fact the term was first coined by 18th-century Swiss explorer and pioneer mountaineer Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in a totally different vein: in his eyes, the modelled rocks looked like the wigs in vogue at the time, and mutton fat (thus moutonnée) was applied to smooth down the hair!
Moraine ridge
Moreover, the passage of a glacier rips rock off mountainsides, carrying it downhill on its surface. Over time it rattles off to the sides and forms elongated rows of moraine, which, when the ice mass shrinks, are left behind as giant witnesses.
Plants and flowers
This glorious array of alpine flowers includes (clockwise from top right) leopardsbane, white poppies, purple gentian, orange lily and alpine asters
The different terrains and habitats around the Bernina – from low-altitude meadows, woods and scrub to high-altitude rock and icescapes – are home to an incredible range of alpine flora, usually seen at their flowering best between July and August. They include some astonishing examples of adaptation to harsh environments.
Apparently barren rock surfaces host myriad coloured lichen; these prepare the way for a pioneer moraine coloniser – ground-hugging mountain avens – which has robust evergreen leaves and eight white petals, as well as for hardy cushion plants such as the ‘rock-breaker’ par excellence saxifrage, with its penetrating roots and tiny delicate blooms.
One of the first flowers to appear on the edge of the snow line is the dainty, fringed, blue-violet alpine snowbell, which actually melts the snow with the heat it releases as it breaks down carbohydrates. Another early bloom is the perfumed sticky primrose with its petite clusters of deep purple. A lover of siliceous scree and the vicinity of ice is the white glacier crowfoot, whose leaf cells contain a rich fluid that acts as antifreeze, protecting the plant from the cold.
The attractive parsley fern is a common sight peeking out from under stones. Stony grasslands with calcareous soil are ideal for the well-loved, creamy, star-shaped edelweiss, their leaves equipped with fine felty hairs to trap heat. Another classic, the gentian, comes in the form of a distinctive blue trumpet or as tiny iridescent stars, in addition to a showy yellow spotted type, a purple variety and delicate autumn mauve blooms. Eye-catching white alpine moon daisies are a common sight on rock-strewn slopes, which they share with clumps of golden-yellow leopardsbane and lilac alpine asters; and a rare delight are the paper-thin poppies with either golden or pale white petals.
Common alongside marshy lakes is the fluffy white cotton grass, while purple or white insectivorous butterwort is found in damp places, often near streams. Pasture slopes and alpine meadows are dotted with exquisite wine-red martagon and orange lilies, delicate columbines, purple orchids and the unpretentious triangular-headed black vanilla orchids, which have a delicate scent of cocoa.
Vast forests of conifers cloak mid-altitude slopes; their needles often filter the daylight, resulting in pink-tinged light below their outspread branches. Gnarled Arolla pines, ‘sculpted’ by lightning strikes, are common, often sprouting from unlikely rock crannies. Dwarf mountain pines are found on sunny scree slopes in dense, low clusters that often invade paths, obliging walkers to push through scratchy branches. Another constant is the larch tree with its delicate lacy fronds; it is the only non-evergreen conifer and loses its needles with the onset of autumn. It is commonly accompanied by bushes of miniature rhododendrons, or alpenrose, with delightful pink blooms.
Wildlife
Old farm huts on the edge of thick conifer forest at Forbesina (AVV, Stage 3)
Birds
Where Arolla pines dominate the forest, you can be sure there will also be nutcrackers. As the name suggests, these brown-white spotted birds are experts at cracking open the pine nuts, and are in fact responsible for the tree’s survival. This voracious – and forgetful – bird hoards kernels in secluded rock crannies where they sprout and grow. What’s more, from their perches at the very top of the trees, nutcrackers act as lookouts for forest dwellers, their piercing squawk a clear warning of danger.
Another treat is the charming, pale brown-cream treecreeper that climbs up tree trunks