MONTE ROSA, ENJOY CLIMBING IN THE PENNINE ALPS

Today, The Grandma has received wonderful news from one of her closest friends, Joseph de Ca'th Lon, who is climbing Monte Rosa, the second-highest summit in the Alps, a mount that was first reached on a day like today in 1855.

Monte Rosa, in Italian massiccio del Monte Rosa; in German Monte Rosa-Massiv; in French massif du Mont Rose, is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps.

It is between Italy's (Piedmont and Aosta Valley) and Switzerland's (Valais). Monte Rosa is the second-highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, after Mont Blanc.

The group is on the watershed between central and Southern Europe.

The Monte Rosa massif has four faces. Three are in Italy: the Liskamm heading above the Val de Gressoney; the Valsesian face above Alagna Valsesia at the upper part of the Valle della Sesia; and the steep, big east wall above Macugnaga in the Valle Anzasca. The Swiss north-western face has several glaciers, with one of the largest Alpine glaciers, flowing towards the Mattertal with Zermatt.

Its main summit, named Dufourspitze in honour of the surveyor Guillaume-Henri Dufour and wholly located in Switzerland, culminates at 4,634 m and is followed by the five nearly equally high subsidiary summits of Dunantspitze, Grenzgipfel, Nordend, Zumsteinspitze, and Signalkuppe.

Some other over 4000 m peaks such as Piramide Vincent, Punta Giordani, and Corno Nero are wholly in Italy.

Monte Rosa is the highest mountain of both Switzerland and the Pennine Alps and is also the second-highest mountain of the Alps and Europe outside the Caucasus.

The north-west side of the central Monte Rosa massif, with its enormous ice slopes and seracs, constitutes the boundary and upper basin of the large Gorner Glacier, which descends towards Zermatt and merges with its nowadays much larger tributary, the Grenzgletscher, right below the Monte Rosa Hut on the lower end of the visible western wing. The Grenzgletscher is an impressive glacier formation between the western wing of the mountain and Liskamm, a ridge on its southwestern side on the Swiss-Italian border.

On the eastern side, in Italy, the mountain falls away in an almost vertical 2,400-metre-high wall of granite and ice, the biggest in Europe, overlooking Macugnaga and several smaller glaciers.

 More information: Visit Monterosa

Monte Rosa was studied by pioneering geologists and explorers, including Leonardo da Vinci in the late fifteenth century and Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in the late eighteenth century.

Following a long series of attempts beginning in the early nineteenth century, Monte Rosa's summit, then still called Höchste Spitze, was first reached in 1855 from Zermatt by a party of eight climbers led by three guides. The great east wall was first climbed in 1872, from Macugnaga.

Each summer many climbers set out from the Monte Rosa Hut on the mountain's west wing for one of its summits via the normal route or for the Margherita Hut on the Signalkuppe, in Italian Punta Gnifetti, used as a research station. Many tourists and hikers also come each year to the Gornergrat on the north-west side of the massif, to see the panorama that extends over the giants of the Alps, from Monte Rosa to the Matterhorn.

Though the Italian Rosa as well as the French Rose both mean pink, the name is a false cognate derived from the Franco-Provençal Valdôtain patois word rouése, meaning glacier.

On old maps as late as 1740, the mountain was named Monte Bosa and even Monte Biosa by the inhabitants of Val Sesia. The name Mon Boso which appears in Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks very likely designated the same mountain.

From Zermatt the mountain was formerly known under the name Gornerhorn. The name gorner is still used for the western ridge that is thrown out from the main mass (Gornergrat) and the glacier that lies at its foot (Gornergletscher) but not used for the mountain itself any more. Nowadays, in German, the Italian Monte Rosa is used instead (Monte Rosa-Gletscher or Monte Rosa-Hütte).

Monte Rosa cover areas on both sides of the border between the Swiss canton of Valais and the Italian regions of Piedmont and Aosta Valley. 

The main summit of Monte Rosa is the Dufourspitze.

On the Swiss side, the town centre of Zermatt is about 13 km south-east and 3,000 m above it.

On the Italian side of the massif are located 9 km north-east Macugnaga in the Valle Anzasca,11 km south-east-south Alagna Valsesia in the Valsesia and 13 km Gressoney-La-Trinité in the Val de Gressoney, respectively, away from the summit. The different sides of the mountain greatly differ from each other.

The Swiss west side is almost completely covered by large glaciers, tributaries of the 57 km2 large Gorner Glacier, descending progressively with gentle slopes and forming a large uninhabited glacial valley. The Italian east side consists of a 2,400-metre-high wall overlooking Macugnaga, whose snows feed the Belvedere Glacier at its base.

The south-east face, culminating at the Signalkuppe, overlooks the piedmontese Valsesia, in Italian Valle della Sesia, and the Val de Gressoney in the autonomous region of Aosta Valley.

The mountain is mainly covered by eternal snows and glaciers, except for its summit which is a rocky ridge orientated west–east, near to and perpendicular to the main watershed between Switzerland and Italy, the river basins of the Rhône and the Po on the Swiss and Italian side, respectively.

The connecting point between them is the Grenzgipfel right on the border, and therefore also the highest peak on the Italian side. Thus, Monte Rosa is the highest mountain in the Alps whose summit is not on the main alpine watershed, although it is off by only 150 metres.

More information: Visit Italy

The Silbersattel and Grenzsattel are the passes located north and south to the summit. The three main secondary summits of Monte Rosa are, from north to south: the Nordend (4,609 m; north of the Dufourspitze), the Zumsteinspitze (4,563 m; south of the Dufourspitze) and the Signalkuppe (4,554 m, Italian: Punta Gnifetti), all of them being positioned right on the Swiss-Italian border. Other secondary summits are the Parrotspitze (4,432 m), the Ludwigshöhe (4,341 m) and the Vincentpiramid (4,215 m). All of them originally have German names, since even the Italian valleys used to be by German-based Walsers inhabited valleys.

Several perpendicular secondary ridges are connected to the central massif, dividing the glaciers that descend towards the Matter Valley. The ridge called Weissgrat connecting the Nordend with the Schwarzberghorn, in Italian Corno Nero, presents a wall of formidable precipices towards the east, but falls away in a gentle slope to the west.

For a breadth of a few kilometres the upper snow-fields of the Weissgrat lie almost unbroken upon this slope, but as they begin to descend towards the Matter Valley they are divided into two ice streams, the upper Gorner Glacier and the Findel Glacier, by a ridge which gradually emerges from the névé, and finally presents a rather bold front to the glaciers on either side.

The highest points of this ridge, appearing insignificant by contrast with the grand objects around, is the Stockhorn (3,532 m) and the lower Gornergrat at 3,090 m. On their south sides is the lower Gorner Glacier, formed by the confluence of all the major (Gornergletscher and Grenzgletscher) and minor tributaries descending from the north, west and south sides of the central Monte Rosa massif, while on the north side the Findel Glacier descends near to the hamlet of Findeln.

More information: Zermatt

Monte Rosa is one of the high mountains surrounding the 40-kilometre-long Matter Valley south of Stalden. On the southwest to west are Liskamm, Zwillinge with Castor and Pollux, the Breithorn and the Matterhorn; on the north are the Weisshorn and the Dom.

The Gornergrat summit, lying 8 km on the north-west at 3,100 metres, is a popular viewpoint of the massif, since it is accessible by train from Zermatt, using the highest open air railway line in Europe.

Being the highest point in Switzerland, Monte Rosa is also one of the most extreme places. The average air pressure is about half of that of the sea level (56%) and the temperature can reach as low as −40 °C.

Owing to the frequent prevalence of a high wind from the east or north-east, and the slow pace at which it is possible to move when near the top, precautions against cold are particularly requisite when climbing Monte Rosa. The snow line is located at about 3,000 m.

The Monte Rosa tour can be completed by trekkers in about 10 days. The circuit follows many ancient trails that have linked the Swiss and Italian valleys for centuries. The circuit includes larch forests, alpine meadows, balcony trails and a glacial crossing.

It connects seven valleys embracing different cultures: the German-speaking high Valais, the Arpitan speaking Aosta Valley and the valleys of Lombardy and Piedmont.

More information: Love Valle d'Aosta

There's no glory in climbing a mountain
if all you want to do is to get to the top.
It's experiencing the climb itself
-in all its moments of revelation, heartbreak, and fatigue-
that has to be the goal.

Karyn Kusama

COLD CASE: WHO KILLED OETZI THE ICEMAN?

Oetzi, the Iceman

Joseph de Ca'th Lon is in the South Tyrol enjoying beautiful landscapes, nice people and discovering the mystery of Oetzi, the Iceman. Joseph is reading an interesting article which has been written by BBC. He wants to share it with us...

High in a remote area of the Oetztaler Alps in northern Italy, 5,300 years ago, Oetzi the Iceman was shot in the back with an arrow. It hit a main artery and he probably bled to death within minutes. His body was preserved in the ice, making him one of the oldest and best-preserved mummies on Earth.

Oetzi was first discovered in 1991 and scientists discovered the flint arrowhead lodged in his shoulder 10 years later. But only in recent months have investigators, led by a senior police detective, focused more intently on how Oetzi was shot.

Was it murder? And who might have killed him?

Angelika Fleckinger, director of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, where Oetzi's body is on display, called on a professional to investigate. He is Detective Chief Inspector Alexander Horn of the Munich Police Department, who is also head of behavioural analysis with the Bavarian police.

He admits to being slightly taken aback at the request.

More information: BBC

It was a funny situation, because when I was asked by the director if I work on cold cases, I said 'yes, I do', Inspector Horn said.

Oetzi's clothes

But this case was colder than most. 

The usual cold case that we have is 20 or maybe 30 years old, and now I was asked to work on a case 5,300 years old, he said.

Initially, Inspector Horn did not think he could help.

I thought that probably the body would be in a bad condition. But what I learnt very soon was that it was in perfect condition. It's even in a better condition than some of the bodies I am working on nowadays.

As well as visiting the scene of the crime high in the Alps, the inspector was able to draw on the extensive research done on Oetzi over the last 25 years, which includes detailed analysis of his stomach contents and the injuries on his body. Both were to prove key to Inspector Horn's theories.

It looks a lot like a murder, he says.

The killer seems to have caught Oetzi by surprise.

More information: BBC

Oetzi was shot probably from quite a distance, about 30m (100 ft), which is not a close-contact killing; it's a distance killing.

Inspector Horn says Oetzi seems to have been quite relaxed up on the glacier just before he was shot. His own bow wasn't ready for use.

Joseph de Ca'th Lon in the Otzi Memorial

About half an hour before he was killed, he was having a rest up there. He was having quite a heavy lunch or meal at least, so it doesn't seem like he was in a rush or fleeing from something.

Another crucial clue came from the injury on Oetzi's right hand, a wound he received one or two days before his death, probably during a fight.

That injury was something we would define as a classic active defence wound. That would be like if somebody... threatens you with an knife and he stabs you, if you grab into the knife and... try to push it away.

Oetzi did not suffer other defence injuries, so Inspector Horn believes he won the initial fight - which possibly took place down in the valley.

What we think… is that the killing up on the glacier is probably the continuation of this fight that happened about one-and-a-half days before.

More information: BBC

Knowing that he was unlikely to win in hand-to-hand combat, Oetzi's killer probably stealthily followed him up the mountain and shot him.

Joseph de Ca'th Lon in the South Tyrol Museum

The glacier is a very remote area and probably not a place where you would randomly run into each other, Alexander Horn says.

But who was the offender and what were his motives?

Inspector Horn says the offender didn't steal Oetzi's valuable copper blade axe and other gear, so it is unlikely to have been a crime for profit. He speculates that it was probably due to some strong personal emotion.

If there was hate, if it was jealousy, if it was revenge, we will not be able to tell you.

Angelika Fleckinger from the Museum of Archaeology says she is very happy so much progress has been made into the big mystery of Oetzi's death. 

But Inspector Horn says he is still unsatisfied.

I don't think there is a high likelihood we will ever be able to solve that case.

The offender got away with that murder - which I don't like, being in charge of investigations, he said with a wry smile.

I don't like the fact that we have an unsolved homicide there.

One of the few things that can be said for certain about Europe's prehistoric peoples is that they all came from somewhere else. 

Norman Davies

TRAMONTATE, STELLE! ALL'ALBA VINCERÒ!

Tramontane is a classical name for a northern wind. The exact form of the name and precise direction varies from country to country. The word came to English from Italian tramontana, which developed from Latin trānsmontānus (trāns- + montānus), "beyond/across the mountains", referring to the Alps in the North of Italy. 

The word has other non-wind-related senses: it can refer to anything that comes from, or anyone who lives on, the other side of mountains, or even more generally, anything seen as foreign, strange, or even barbarous.

THE DANGEROUS PLACES: GULF OF LION AND ALT EMPORDÀ

In the zones of Gulf of Lion and Alt Empordà, the tramontane (named Tramuntana in Catalan) is a strong, dry cold wind from the north (on the Mediterranean) or from the northwest (in lower Languedoc, Roussillon, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands). It is similar to the mistral in its causes and effects, but it follows a different corridor; the tramontane accelerates as it passes between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central, while the mistral flows down the Rhone Valley between the Alps and the Massif Central in France.

The tramontane is created by the difference of pressure between the cold air of a high pressure system over the Atlantic Ocean or northwest Europe and a low pressure system over the Gulf of Lion in the Mediterranean. The high-pressure air flows south, gathering speed as moves downhill and is funnelled between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central. 

According to French sources, the name was used in its present form at the end of the 13th century by Marco Polo, in 1298. It was borrowed from the Latin "transmontanus" and the Italian "tramontana", meaning not just "across the mountains" but also "the North Star" (literally the star "above the mountains"), since the Alps marked the north for the Italic people. The French term tresmontaine, cited as early as 1209 and still used in the 15th century, was borrowed directly from the Latin.

More information: NASA Weather

 Le vent qui vient à travers la montagne me rendra fou.

The wind coming over the mountain will drive me mad.

Victor Hugo, Gastibelza