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You are here: Home1 / Gressoney-La-Trinité2 / Punta Telcio (2833m), trail 7B
  • General description
  • Departure and arrival
  • The route
  • Personal Excursions

Punta Telcio (2833m), trail 7B

Stafal to Punta Telcio

Trail 7B starts from Stafal and arrives at Punta Telcio (2833m). It is 8361m long and the total positive elevation gain is 1139m.
The approximate time for the ascent is 3h27. The trail is rated EE difficulty.

Punta Telcio is the mountain that it is impossible not to have seen, because every time you look towards Monte Rosa from Gressoney Saint-Jean, Punta Telcio is right there, front right: it is the one with the obvious rows of avalanche barriers. From the valley floor, in the presence of the giants towering behind, it looks like an insignificant hillock. It is actually a very respectable mountain, in a location that offers excellent views of Rosa (of course), the Lys springs and Stafal.

Trail 7B passes first by the Blue Lake/Bloabesee (2687m ) and then by the Green Lake/Griensee (2631m) . Blue Lake is a popular destination for families and Sunday hikers because it can be reached from the arrival of the Gabiet gondola in little time and effort. Almost no one continues on to Punta Telcio, so the trail from this point on is not as busy, and in some places the trail is not immediately obvious so you have to be able to “read” the terrain and identify the trail markers to proceed to your destination (hence the EE difficulty assigned to the trail).

More information on level of difficulty, ascent times, maps and GPX tracks
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1. Start and finish

Trail 7B starts from Stafal, the elevation is 1824m.
See on Google Maps.

Latitudine e longitudine (WGS84 - EPSG 4326): 45.8598466868, 7.81251405414

The arrival location is Punta Telcio. The altitude is 2833.
See on Google Maps.

Latitudine e longitudine (WGS84 - EPSG 4326): 45.8704659427, 7.82369064106

2. The route

Trail 7B starts from Stafal, just before the grocery store, see photo from Google Street View:

The departure of 7B from Stafal

The departure of 7B from Stafal

I have not (yet) walked Trail 7B starting from Stafal: this page will describe a route from Lake Gabiet, initially along Trail 6A/6B. and which joins 7B after about 100 meters of elevation gain.

After parking in Stafal, take the gondola up to the right to Lake Gabiet(here for information on schedule and fares).

At Lake Gabiet, go up the dirt road for a very short distance until you reach Adler’s Nest (formerly Lys Refuge): follow the signs for Trail 6A or 6B.

The marker at Adler's Nest

The marker at Adler’s Nest

Go up a few dozen meters along a marked trail until you reach belowAlbergo Del Ponte, where you take a left across the ski slope. Continue along a wide dirt road until you reach a nice little stone bridge that crosses the Endrebach stream .

The bridge over the Endrebach stream from the top of trail 6A/6B

The bridge over the Endrebach stream from the top of trail 6A/6B

Shortly after the bridge, the 6A/6B trail we are on is joined from the left by trail 7B, which climbs from Stafal. From here on, the trail is shared between 6A, 6B and 7B .

The trail passes a small rocky rise, and reaches a small dam at 2511m.

The dam as seen from the top of trail 7B, the trail comes to it from the right

The dam as seen from the top of trail 7B, the trail comes to it from the right

At the dam, the trail forks: 6B continues straight to the Orestes Hutte, we abandon it and continue on 6A/7B to the left. Just ahead is another fork in the road: the 6A trail we are on continues straight ahead, toward the Mantua refuge. We again take the road to the left, along 7B, now no longer shared with other trails.

The junction between trail 6A and 7B

The junction between trail 6A and 7B

As soon as you take the left fork you will find a first unnamed pond (no, this is not the Blue Lake) , next to which on a boulder is a small wooden rooster, the homologue of the one we will find on the cairn at the top of Punta Telcio.

A first rooster is found near the anonymous pond

A first rooster is found near the anonymous pond

You contour around the pond on the left and climb a steep gully that finally leads to the Blue Lake (2687m) on the right. On clear days the Vincent Pyramid is reflected there.

The Blue Lake

The Blue Lake

At this point, Trail 7B, to reach Punta Telcio (which is about a kilometer as the crow flies to the west), would dictate momentarily lowering in elevation toward Green Lake (2634m) and then resuming climbing.

Green Lake, as seen from the Blue Lake elevation

Green Lake, as seen from the Blue Lake elevation

Instead, when I go to Punta Telcio, I always prefer to continue along Blue Lake, pointing west and climbing, never losing altitude. There are faint traces of an unnamed trail that can be followed until, at an elevation of about 2740 meters, we rejoin trail 7B coming in from the left. At this point Punta Telcio is finally visible in the distance.

The ridge with Punta Telcio: to the right, the col which is reached from the traverse

The ridge with Punta Telcio: to the right, the col which is reached from the traverse

The trail at this point turns to the northeast, traversing a long stony traverse (annoying because it is rather uneven), until it reaches the final ridge on a small pass at 2769 meters where one can finally cast an eye across to the other side, along the Salza valley, beyond which the Alta Luce stands out.

High Light from the pass to Punta Telcio

High Light from the pass to Punta Telcio

Once the pass is reached, Punta Telcio and the cockerel on the summit cairn are quickly reached by climbing the simple grassy ridge, staying to the left (to the right the mountain drops steeply).

Overview from Punta Telcio northward

Overview from Punta Telcio northward

From the summit you can’t see (thankfully) the avalanche barrages; on the other hand, you really are spoiled for choice: the 4000-meter peaks of Monte Rosa, the sources of the Lys, Testa Grigia, the Rothorn, Punta di Netscio, Punta Ciampono, Mont Nery, Stafal: on clear days everything is perfectly visible, thanks to the very central location of this, unfortunately, rather underrated peak.

Overview from Punta Telcio southward

Overview from Punta Telcio southward

In this 3D image the highlights of the last section of the route:

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1

Trail 7B ascends from here

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The Blue Lake (2687m)

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Trail 7B descends from Blue Lake to Green Lake (2634m) and then turns toward Punta Telcio. You can also continue from Blue Lake directly to Punta Telcio, without going down to Green Lake first

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If you followed trail 7B down to Green Lake, the trail continues in this direction

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Instead of following trail 7B and descending to Green Lake, you can continue from Blue Lake directly in the direction of Punta Telcio by following the unnamed trail marks

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At about this point the 7B trail coming from Green Lake meets up again.

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Here, trail 7B traverses a stony, slightly downhill traverse that leads to the collar on the final ridge

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Trail 7B, after traversing the traverse, reaches this knoll and then climbs the ridge to the left, toward the summit of Punta Telcio

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Punta Telcio (2833m)

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This straight line is due to a problem with my GPS

This is the map of the trail, according to the SCT Trail Cadastre of the Aosta Valley.

Download the trail in GPX format

3. Personal excursions

12/09/2021

I started from Stafal along the 7/7C trail, climbed the Salza valley, reached the Salza pass and from there the Alta Luce. Then I descended with trail 6A to the junction with 7B, climbed to Blue Lake and from there to Punta Telcio. I then descended back to Blue Lake, returned to Gabiet, and from Gabiet returned to Stafal by descending Trail 7A. A nice gallop, graced by wonderful weather: starting very early, I managed to get to Alta Luce before several clouds thickened over Rosa, thus managing to take some nice pictures.

Note that shortly after taking 7C, at the beginning of the Salza valley I encountered a group of hunters stationed like cougars pointing at a distant chamois. I was lent the binoculars to see it, but I absolutely could not distinguish it, camouflaged as it was in the slope. I walked away hoping never to hear the gunshot, which fortunately never came.

Halfway up the Salza valley I passed a large group of ibex. No other animals spotted during the day.