Cima di Lemma, from Le Teggie

Access

Just beyond Morbegno in Valtellina, turn right into Val Tartano. After passing the village of Tartano, continue by car into the main valley: how much further up you can drive depends on snow conditions. Normally you drive up to the houses of Le Teggie, just after a small artificial tunnel, as some of the houses are inhabited all year round; if conditions are favourable, the road continues for a few more hundred metres, reaching a clearing specially created to allow ski mountaineers to park.

Introduction

Classic early-season outing in the Tartano Valley, one of the most popular in Valtellina. Two uphill routes are possible: the one proposed here is usually only taken downhill because it is rather steep and tiring in the first section through the sparse forest, but it will always have powdery snow as the whole route faces north. For the route normally followed, however, the last stretch, after the Tartano pass, is on the south-facing slope with very variable snow conditions.

Description

Get your skis on and continue on the left (orographic right) side along a small road. At a bridge near some cottages, leave the track that continues on the same slope and leads to the Cima Vallocci itinerary: cross the bridge and continue on the right-hand side (orographic left). Almost immediately, leave the track that still climbs in the valley and constitutes the itinerary normally followed by most for Passo Tartano and Cima di Lemma, and ascend the steep slopes above (you can't go wrong, just follow the numerous downhill tracks that make the route almost a track). When you reach a first group of huts, walk a short stretch halfway up to the left, then a further ramp to reach more open spaces in view of the Tartano pass. You do not reach it, but climb up into a gorge on the right, below the summit of Lemma, paying a little attention on a steep midslope section. The valley is very beautiful with bumps and dips and dies below the summit of Lemma; here you head for the col to the right of the summit, where you leave your skis and easily climb to the summit on foot. Descent by the same route.

 Photo: Cima di Lemma ©2007 Franco Rossi 

 Route Type: A/R 

 Difficulty: MS 

 Equipment: Ski, Seal Skins, ARTVA 

 Recommended Period January, February 

 Total Time: 5h00' 

 Ascent Time: 4h00' 

 Descent Time: 1h00' 

 Departure Altitude: 1400 m 

 Arrival Altitude: 2348 m 

 Elevation Difference: 948 m