Today was a truly splendid day and I am happy to be able to tell about it here. Together with 3 of my 2 sons (Zeno 19 and Emilio 13 years old) I decided to climb one of the most beautiful peaks in the Susa valley, near Turin where I was born and where I am these days. The mountain is the Rocciamelone I/PM-311 a splendid mountain of 3538 meters above sea level which can be reached from Turin in about an hour and a half by car.
The climb is decidedly serious, from the parking lot to 2050 it is over 1450 meters in altitude to the top and the path indication was 4 hours of walking. After about an hour and twenty minutes we reached the “Ca d’Asti” refuge at 2850 meters where we drank something fresh and I had a coffee to have some more energy.
Then we set off again. Finally, in just 3 hours we reached the summit where there is a huge statue of the Madonna that dominates the whole panorama. My boys started eating and I made a few Qsos on 20 meters with the splendid panorama of the glaciers all around. Not fantastic propagation but in the end between ssb and cw I made 21 qsos with 3 Summit2Summit. Instead of my usual “fishing rod” antenna I ran wire between a pylon that housed a lightning rod and one of my hiking poles. I preferred to make activation last for a short time, my row took up too much space and I didn’t want to disturb the dozens of walkers who were arriving.
We rested and after about 2 and a half we returned to the car very very tired but very happy with a splendid day in the mountains. It should be noted that the “step” both uphill and downhill has always been done by 13-year-old Emilio who never seemed to be tired…
73 de IW0HK Andrea
