Peak 43. in the 46000 altitude meters challenge Jof di Montasio

Crazy climb over 60 m high Pipan ladder and beauty of the chamois kingdom

Date: 21.9.2019

Starting point: Pecol 1510 m

Top: 2753 m

Altitude difference: 1243 m

I needed soooo much time to come back and finish this post. Beautiful Montaž. I have soooo many photos to choose from and the day was so amazingly beautiful that it is hard to find words that will give justice to reality. Montaž or Jof di Montasio is an astonishing massive of a mountain. Looking at it from Pecol in the winter, when we went ski touring I made a promise to Sunny kid and J. that we will be back in the summer. And we were.

Let me tell you about the day through the photos.

GOOD MORNING WORLD
PECOL
Towards Montaž
Mountains of Kanin behind us
It was an enchanting morning indeed

Up till Forca dei Disteis (Škrbina vrh Strmali) we had a good warm-up. I don’t know how much time we needed, I rarely do. I almost never check what time we start walking or when we arrive to the top, this is also why I never write the timeline of our hikes on this blog. I stopped watching at the clock while on a hike when Sunny kid first started hiking with me. The constant time pressure made me nervous and so I just decided to let it go. And I loved it. Still do. I ‘ll check the time, if the circumstances are such that I really need to. Let’s say if the tour length requires it, or if I know the weather will change after x o’clock, or if we are meeting someone… Otherwise, I don’t use the time to measure our hikes and climbs anymore. It makes me feel much freer. And also more connected to natural time. Knowing in your guts when you need to hurry up, or when the weather is closing in, or if you will reach the valley just in time before the darkness falls… I learned to trust this timing more than the one given by numbers, that control our every step. I wish I could incorporate this mentality into my everyday life too. But as long as I don’t, at least I can run off to the mountains 😉

Back to Jof di Montasio now. Reaching Forca dei Disteis we made a little break.

After the pause, the interesting part of the hike started. And we saw the first chamois.

The start of the Pipan trail
We put the selfbelaying systems and helmets on and continued into the warm rocks and amazing views.
The chamois in their home
Towards the Pipan ladder
The view back to Pecol.

And now the best part. The Pipan ladder. The 60 m long thing made from steel wires, hanging in the air. Adrenaline rush.

Pipan ladder
The easiest way to Jof di Montasio
Sunny kid happy on the rocking Pipan ladder (Pipanova lestev)

The look into the depths below is scary and powerfully pleasing at the same time. The magic of the mountains. Climbing off the ladder we continued left to the ridge. It is, by all means, one of the most glamorous ridges I have ever walked. The rocky wall drop on both sides is magnificent. Feels like walking on a line up in the mountain universe.

Mountain happy face
Universe of mountains
Last meters to the top

There were some hikers on the top, but it was not crowded. We had a nice conversation with a father and a teenage daughter, they described how they walked from Ljubljana to Triglav when she was 10 years old. I absolutely love meeting enthusiastic people with adventurous ideas, especially if they are families. We rang a bell, that stands on the top in memory of an alpinist Riccardo Deffar and supposedly brings good luck to the mountaineers.