I train for a bit, then nothing for weeks. Then full-on tough days, then traveling and afterwards just relaxing. It’s difficult to improve my fitness like this. But on September 6th I’ll be standing at the start line with 1.5 km of swimming, 40 k cycling and 10 k running ahead of me thinking “Shit,…

1253m hiking up, even with just light 7 kg packs, requires a bit of training. Tendons need to be strengthened beforehand. We all managed to get up there, but only one of us was trained enough to happily continue with a similar pace (800m up, 1700m down) the next day. Just hiking back down to…

A huge history of cross-country and downhill skiing in Riale The only use of first aid was to repair a rip in Aldo’s pants. Finally used my sewing kit! Parents leaning way out … Over the spectacular waterfall: la Cascata del Toce View from the bottom. The Toce River flows down to Gravellona T., the…

Sunrise over Val Torta. We’ll walk back down this valley to the car as the original hiking plan to walk 800m up and 1700m down to our next shelter is too ambitious for 6 of the 8 legs. Lenticular clouds over the Basodino The “new” hut sleeping bag stayed in place! Lots of ski touring…

Packs, hats and boots ready Starting at Ossasco at 1313m Clouds of butterflies keeping us company Going up 200 vertical meters at a time Through the shady woods at first Views of the surrounding mountains becoming visible Flowers, blueberries and strawberries! 400m up the vista opens up Val Torta Wonderfully refreshing stream to bathe my…

Here it is, the Final First Aid Kit:

At the end of the previous blog I started philosophizing about the nature of a first-aid kit. This leads me to think about what it is we’re treating. We all want our excursions to be enjoyable, otherwise what’s the point? In some cases, though, weight reduction is so important that discomfort is taken in stride.…

It’s time to be organized about first aid. There is no “one kit fits all”. It depends on the length of time it may be needed, the distance to pharmacies that are open, ease of making it to a hospital with/without calling the Rega, the type of risk inherent in the activity and the number…

In order to use our hut sleepingbag sheets, we first need to walk 1000m up to get to the first hut. What will we need? The temperature will range between 30° celsius on the way to and from the starting point, 15° at 2400m during the day and 5° at night. It probably won’t rain…