Monte Scaletta traverse – Maira valley

From the hairpin continue on your left following the signpost indications to the Scaletta Pass. After a few hundred meters ignore the right turn to the Feuillas and Enchiausa hills, and continue hiking on the gravel road.

Keep walking following the signposts to the Scaletta pass (trail S10). Turn right through the larches and keep your right at the following fork, you reach the Ciorliero meadow (1,910 m). Keep climbing and then you get to a hill where you find a small wooden altar.

Continue walking for a good while until reaching a fork at 2,180 m. Follow the indications to the Scaletta Pass reaching a rocky scree futher on. Follow the path heading north towards a steep stretch on Denti ridge.

In a few minutes you reach the (not easily visibile) Escalon Pass (2,415 m).

The trail is now flat and you continue on a large semicircle to the left, towards the Scaletta Pass (2,614 m).

Once you reach the Pass, turn left and follow the Roberto Cavallero trail (blue/red sign) climbing up on a steep ascent to the top of Mount Scaletta.

Get to the beginning of the man made tunnel. With the help of a torch go through the tunnel following a 90 degree angle, exiting on the opposite end. Go through a steep stretch on unstable ground and ascend the steep ridge.

At the end of the ridge, turning right, go up and cross a small trench. Then turn on your left and climb up for a few minutes until reaching the Croce di Vetta (2,840 m). Enjoy the breath-taking landscape: the Oronaye (3,100 m) and Vanclava (2,874 m), all the Roburent lakes, the Gardetta Pass (2,437 m) with the Rocca la Meja (2,831 m) at the end of it, and the Unerzio valley below.

At this point you are going to start the most demanding stretch of the hike. In case of bad weather or other issues you can always fall back on a trail that takes you to the Costa Denti (Valle Maira) or on a trail that descends towards the intermediate lake of Roburent (Valle Stura).

Descend on the opposite side of the summit. Stay a few dozen meters to the right of the large steel gear wheel that was used as lift for the construction of the bunkers. Climb the rocky formation for a few meters and then descend on the opposite side.

The description of this stretch of the trail is a bit difficult because it continues through peaks, towers, rocky cliffs, continously trespassing on the Valle Maira side and Valle Stura side. In any case you must follow the blue/red notches on the Cavallero trail, that are well placed on the most important points.

At a certain point of the trail you descend in valle Stura, you go through two rocky towers and then you go up the yellow turf incline that takes you to the Peroni Pass (2,578 m).

Turning left you follow the path that cuts through a ridge and leads to the Croce Occidentale Pass (2,620 m). From here continue towards the spartan Bivouac Due Valli (2,620 m, distant 8.5 km from the itinerary starting point). It is always open, it can accomodate 3 – 4 people for the night, but there is no water and no blankets nor cookware.

The path climbs upwards past the small hill and it takes you to the Croce Orientale Pass (2,645 m). Ignore on the right a trail that goes to the Oserot hill, and proceed always close to the rim of the ridge, admiring the mighty Rocca Brancia (2.814), the Oserot hill (2.620 m) and Mount Oserot (2.861 m).

Proceeding on a stretch of the ridge, get to the start of a steep rocky passage, equipped with a chain. You reach Vittorio Hill (2,525 m). Here is where the difficult part ends.

Turning left (north-west) you find a path that gently descends towards a grassy hollow. Go thorugh it on the right side, enter the opposite grassy hollow and descend towards the Escalon shelter (2,270 m), that you can glimpse on a nearby upland.

From the shelter, take the descending path. Turning right you quickly return to Ciorliero meadow concluding this spectacular itinerary!