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Val Formazza Ski Tour in Italy

Val Formazza Ski Tour in Italy
Val Formazza Ski Tour
Val Formazza Skiing

Unleash your inner explorer in Val Formazza, a hidden gem nestled among the majestic Italian Alps. Conquer diverse slopes and pristine valleys every day with expert guides, then unwind in your cozy base under breathtaking sunsets.

Group

Alps

5 Days

Feb - Apr

High

Intermediate


Highlights

  • Ski tour through the snow-covered landscapes of Val Formazza
  • Guided by experts, navigate diverse slopes and pristine valleys
  • Unwind in the warmth of Margaroli Hut

Description

Let's explore and ski tour through the pristine snow-covered lands of Val Formazza - one of the most captivating areas of Ossola Valley.

Where Switzerland kisses Italy, you'll find Formazza Valley, snuggled against the northernmost tip of Piedmont. The valley is protected by the Lepontine Alps and is overlooked by the Blinnenhorn, which stands as the highest peak at 3,374 meters.

Get ready to discover the most iconic peaks in Val Formazza! Seasoned guides will take you on a journey through the stunning, white landscapes where, each day, you'll be able to conquer a diverse range of snow-dusted slopes and pristine valleys. As evening falls, the warmth of Margaroli Hut awaits, offering delicious meals and comfortable beds, your central base for the entire adventure.

Witness high-altitude sunrises and sunsets like never before, with a fresh itinerary every day, tailor-made for adventure.

Book your Val Formazza adventure today and experience the Alps like never before!

Want to push your limits further? Explore our Ossola Valley Skiing Tour, a crown jewel for seasoned shredders.

Price includes

  • Guiding fee
  • Mountain guide expenses
  • Rope
  • Harness
  • Crampons

Price details

  • The price does not cover:
  • Research and rescue insurance with UVGAM coverage (recommended): €12 per person for 7 days
  • Rental of personal equipment (avalanche beacon, shovel, probe, and backpack): €30/day per person, subject to availability
  • Rental of personal equipment (harness, ice axe, and crampons): €20/day per person, subject to availability
  • The Mountain Guide’s expenses (such as lifts, transfers, meals, and accommodation) are the responsibility of the participants
  • Transfers
  • Anything not mentioned under "The rate includes"

Itinerary

Day 1: Alpine Adventure in Canza

We'll meet with the Guide and the group in Antigorio Valley for logistical organization and gear check. Then we'll be transfered by car to Ponte in Formazza valley.

Our adventure begins in the charming Walser village of Canza, where we'll either hike or ski our way up to the cozy Margaroli hut. After a well-earned lunch break, we'll settle into our comfortable rooms.

In the afternoon, you can join an optional excursion to the picturesque Sruer lake before returning to the hut for a delicious dinner and a restful night's sleep.

Day 2: Skiing towards Busin Lake

Wake up and have breakfast at the hut.

Experience a beautiful and interesting first ascent in a remote environment. The view from the peak is among the most breathtaking in the entire Lepontine Alps.

Enjoy a fun and satisfying descent to reach Busin Lake. After a brief climb to the pass of the same name, we will follow the same route back as the ascent for an enjoyable descent.

Return to the hut for some relaxation before dinner and overnight stay.

Day 3: Ski touring in Formazza Valley

Wake up and have breakfast at the hut.

Depart for the stunning frozen Srùer lake, then from the Lebendun pass, we will make our way to the peak at 3,236m. The Punta d’Arbola offers an ideal ski touring experience in Formazza valley. This route provides an excellent and fulfilling ascent.

We will return to the hut by taking a different route, passing near Vannino lake.

Relax, have dinner, and stay overnight at the hut

Day 4: Ascend Punta del Forno

Wake up and have breakfast at the hut.

Next, we will set out for the ski touring ascent of Punta del Forno.

This is a secluded route in the expansive and breathtaking Forno Vallon. Throughout the journey, you will be entirely on your own, surrounded only by a remote and distinctive landscape.

The ascent will treat you to a magnificent view over the Conca del Vannino, towards Punta d’Arbola.

Return to the hut, relax, have dinner, and stay overnight.

Day 5: Last peak of the tour

Wake up and have breakfast at the hut.

A pleasant ascent will take you to the Nefelgiù pass, offering a scenic view. Then, enjoy a descent back to Ponte, where the tour will conclude with a celebratory lunch at the delightful and hospitable Albergo Rosenthal.

Share a final toast with the Guide and the group, and bid farewell before heading home.

 

About the guide

Guide profile image

-PeaksHunter

4.7

(331)

Mountain Guide

Giving and receiving smiles, seeing the satisfaction on the faces of our customers, seeking opportunities for growth, stimulating authenticity in personal and group relationships, in sharing mountaineering disciplines, fears, efforts, and moments of difficulty, which are part of the integrated with experiences, essential ingredients of every summit climb: these are our focus, our beliefs, and our most important results, as outdoor Professionals and as people who love the mountains and their work as Alpine Guides!

Founded in 2013 by Elis and Silvia, PEAKSHUNTER Mountain Guides is a team of IFMGA-certified Mountain Professionals and outdoor activities experts, based in the town of Aosta, not far from Courmayeur-Chamonix, on the Italian side of the Mont Blanc massif.

We live and work in the beautiful Aosta Valley region, very close to French and Swiss borders near to Geneva, Milan, and Turin international airports.

Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, Dufourspitze, Pyramide Vincent and Regina Margherita Hut, Gran Paradiso, Breithorn, Lyskamm, Castor and Pollux are only a few of several 4000 Alps summits you can climb with us: most of our team of Guides were born and grew up close to these mountains and they have explored the ascent routes several times during different seasons, with skis or crampons!

- We love our work: we plan all our trips with great commitment and deep respect for the Alpine environment, for its inhabitants, and its territories. Including local traditions in different valleys and Alpine areas.

- We love Mountain, Nature, and Outdoor activities, that we like to share with people from all around the world. We are enthusiastic to meet like-minded adventurers and share new experiences and memorable emotions with the support of our Mountain Guides.

- Safety and Risk Management are essential for us, as elements of fundamental importance during every single trip we plan and carry out with our customers: for this reason, we offer introductory courses to the different alpine disciplines (Mountaineering, Rock climbing, Ice climbing, Ski mountaineering, Freeride, Rescue Crevasse, and Avalanche) to convey awareness and responsibility to our customers.

- We offer solid Experience, with several years organizing outdoor disciplines around mountain and wild areas, in many different countries of Italy and Europe, for individuals or groups, including 7-day customer support for booking, logistics, and personal assistance for planning and reservations.

- As certified Mountain Guides, we offer training courses, to improve technical skills and to learn basic knowledge about mountaineering in the Alps, which is essential to explore and climb the Mountains safely in any situation or conditions.

- We are happy to provide customized programs for every customer's demand: our Experience is synonymous with Professionalism and Customer Care to guarantee unforgettable emotions and beautiful smiles!

Fulfill your dreams, discover breathtaking views or simply enjoy an extraordinary day: you just need to use your imagination and we will carry out your trip as you desire to live it!

Let’s plan your next mountain project together!

Certificates

IFMGA

Request more information

What people are saying about -PeaksHunter

I would certainly recommend Peaks Hunters. The communications were always excellent and swift with any questions I had. My guide, Jacob, was on time and at the right place, as well as being approachable and down to earth, who I knew I would enjoy the adventure with. Thanks guys!

We had an amazing time! Marco was a brilliant guide, and we found some incredible powder and met some fantastic people. An unforgettable day, thanks so much!

Very professional mountain guides making dreams come true. The team is very communicative and helpful from the beginning of contact until tour completion. The guides are flexible in case of weather/condition changes and they are very safety-conscious making me feel very comfortable. Thank you Peakshunter that I could be on tour with you!

Amazing trip organised by Peakshunter Mountain Guides over the monte rosa massif, I've had an experience this past weekend that I'll remember forever thanks guys

Samantha

Dear Exploreshare, I am unfortunate to inform you that I passed a very bad experience with the guide Paolo Molinari (PEAKSHUNTER), especially during the descent from Margherita Regina hut, the 23rd of September. The treatment that I experienced from the guide was gravely unprofessional. I was pushed to my limit by Paolo. During the last meters to the summit and especially on the descent, he constantly put pressure on me to go faster despite telling him that I prefer to conserve my energy so that I can last for the rest of the descent down. He ignored and pushed our group much faster than I was comfortable. On the descent down from Margherita Hut, we were nearly running down as he was leading, even with the knowledge that one of the people (me) was slower than the rest. If we had kept a more slower pace, even if we were a couple hours later, I believe I would have been able to kept walking down without becoming exhausted. The descent was an extremely horrible experience for me as I was pushed to my limits by Paolo. We were given almost no breaks for me to drink water or eat after the summit. At times I told him that I needed a pause to drink water as I was getting dehydrated and he refused and had us keep walking, leading me to become over-exhausted. I understand that he had other plans in his agenda after Margherita Regina or potentially the risk of bad weather (which I’m not even sure was true because all afternoon was good conditions as everyone else in the group can agree with and attested to me after finishing the descent to the parking) but it did not excuse his treatment and lack of empathy and common sense. I was becoming more and more over-exhausted that I reached my limit due to his impatient attitude. When I told him that I’m at my limit, he scolds me in front of everyone and saying how it’s my fault when he didn’t consider that maybe his pushing and rushing and putting pressure on me caused me to over-exhaust myself instead of going slower to avoid my over-exhausted state. I believe as a guide, one should be flexible to the group (as the conditions allow) and he was unnecessarily pushing when he did not need to. This led me to needing more pauses which clearly irritated and angered him. He ridiculed me in front of the group in English and Italian. He said “In all my 6 years as a guide, never had I had a client that had problems descending down in these conditions”, without even considering that I was EXHAUSTED and other problems of mentality due to his ridicule of me in front of the group, which did not encourage me to keep going nor put me in a mental space to believe that I can keep going. He called me a baby (in front of everyone in the group), when I tried to express my worry about being dehydrated and needing water. He did not have us pause to allow me to drink water when I really needed it, I was refused several times by him. I was very scared about fainting from exhaustion for how he was pushing me. I tried to tell him and he did want to not listen. I believe his cruel behavior was to punish me on purpose as he was obviously unhappy with the situation. At one point, the group had to pull me because I could no longer feel my legs and at one point, he took a photo of me, WITHOUT MY CONSENT, of me lying on the ground, ridiculing me, causing people in the group to laugh. I don’t know if this photo was used to communicate to Peakshunter or for his own personal purposes. I would like him to DELETE it if you can as it was taken of me when I was in a very vulnerable and exhausted state. Giorgia and the others in the group can attest to this. He was on the phone with other colleagues and Silvia (I think, as he omitted communicating to me his actions as he purposely only spoke in Italian to the group so I didn’t understand what was going on). Although I don’t speak fluent Italian, I heard him constantly say on the phone and to everyone in the group in front of me “la merda” several times about me, about this situation which doesn’t inspire confidence in the group but fear. I believe he told Silvia or someone on the phone that I had drunk alcohol and that I was under alcohol influence which was a reason why I wasn’t performing right which is NOT CORRECT as I was NOT drunk. Near the end of the descent towards Gnifetti Hut, he was on the phone again as I was constantly asking for pauses and was not happy with me. I do not understand the entire call in Italian, but I believe he said something along the lines of considering to ABANDON me “abandonnarli” on the mountain if I couldn’t continue or go faster. Again, he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. This inspired fear in me. I don’t know if he was truly considering it or saying it as a joke (I’m not sure to who), but that was absolutely NOT appropriate. I lost trust and confidence in him as a guide and I was outraged when I heard that, though I did not say anything in the moment. (Later when we arrived at Gnifetti Hut, I told him “Well, I guess you didn’t have to abandon me then”, referencing to his call earlier on the mountain, and he showed irritation to me briefly, proving and confirming that he knows what he said in front of me in Italian.) Especially for a guide to omit speaking in both languages, most of the time only speaking in Italian to the group and leaving me out of the discussion made me uncomfortable as I did not understand what are the risks ahead of us, what needs to be done and what is going on or what is going to happen. While passing by a crevasse on the way down, he asked me if I had seen this crevasse this morning. I said no. And he made a joke saying, “well that could have been you in there”, implying that I should have fallen and died in the crevasse. He told me this in English. I do not understand why he felt the need to say unnecessary things if this was a joke or he said this to me out of spite because he was clearly unhappy with me and the situation we were in. My experience with Paolo Molinari was inexcusable and completely horrendous. I was enraged at this treatment that I injured all afternoon. I have seen other trek and high-mountain guides react better to stress and vulnerable clients. I believe he acted on his own agenda and his own needs instead of considering the needs of the group and the weakest during this course (me). If he had listened to me and adapted to the group, I think this descent would have gone differently. I hope something will be done so he corrects his behavior so no other future client will experience such unprofessional, abusive, and ridiculing treatment. I would even recommend him being admitted into training again or temporarily losing his license as a mountain guide as this was absolutely UNACCEPTABLE behavior that no client or participant should experience. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, Samantha BAQUIRAN


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