Here's the view from the first belay station. Unfortunately, you are looking from the cold, shady valley into the sunny valley. So close, and yet so far...

Here (see the lower left-hand corner) is the refugio for the Val Màsino area. 3+ hour approach, though it feels hella-longer. From the refugio, most of the climbing is accessible within 1-3 hours further approach.

Somewhere along the 5-hour hike up to our refugios we saw this wonderful collection of butterflies. Unfortunately, what they are feasting on is a little log of scat.

Paolo, on the most beautiful approach in the world...

Just before the 9th pitch on Dente della Vecchia... lots of air and clouds beneath my feet.

Standing up amongst the clouds, it looks rather mighty for something named The Old Lady's Tooth.

Monte Disgrazia is sitting between Val Masino (and so the famous Val di Mello) and Val Malenco. At 3678 m it is the highest of the surrounding mountains (and in my opinion also the most beautifull). I took this photo on a geology field trip, so it was only look, dont touch (but i could tell you about the serpentinites that this mountain is made of, and the contact with the Bergell intursion, whose granodiorites and tonalites made the Val di Mello and the Badile ...), but as Mr. Schwarzenegger said: "ill be back".