Denti della Vecchia, from Cimadera

Introduction

A very rewarding hike through varied and unusual environments. You will reach a short, very articulated and scenic border rock chain. The network of paths allows for variations between the various peaks in a truly spectacular environment. Apart from what has been described, reaching the various peaks is a mountaineering matter: in fact, we find ourselves between the walls of the traditional Lugano climbing wall.

Description

From Cimadera 1080 m, crossing the few houses in the village on steps, we climb up to reach a forest track for the Capanna Pairolo hut: the route is always immersed in a splendid beech forest until we cross the Albantino ridge, where the Alpe Pairolo clearing widens out with the hut of the same name 1347 m. The trail continues on a wide track up to the "Swiss path" of the Denti della Vecchia [a path built in the 1930s by Major Gianola - a mythical figure in Ticino mountaineering - to allow the Border Guards to control the territory], at first inside a wood of mountain pines and then in a damp forest of sparse beeches scattered among limestone landslide boulders. The path then enters between the spires of the Sassi Palazzi, proceeding on exposed ledges at the base of walls traversed by dozens of climbing routes. A final ascent in a kind of grassy gully leads to the Passo Streccione pass 1399 m. [From here, it is possible to reach Sasso Grande 1432 m - the culminating point of the Denti della Vecchia - by means of a short grade II climb in a damp chimney-channel and then on an articulated slab. Best to use a rope]. Turning back, you take the little-visible 'Italian path', which, for the most part, follows the ridge line around the summit of the spires on the wooded southern slope. With a short, exposed diversions, you reach the flat summit of the Sasso Palazzo at around 1400 m. Returning to the boundary line, we continue up and down on a path of very variable quality and evidence, until the wide grassy pass of Passo Pairolo 1406 m. Descending into Swiss territory, the Pairolo Hut is reached in a few hundred metres. From here to Cimadera along the outward route.