Tour of Monte Rosa. Hilary Sharp
found, lives risked. Now as we trek through the mountains, generally comfortable in our high-tech gear and with well-filled stomachs, it’s interesting to try to imagine the trepidation that travellers hundreds of years ago would have felt before setting out on these highly risky ventures. The vagaries of Alpine weather meant that any excursion into the hills brought with it a risk of bad weather, not to mention illness or even attack. The frequent presence of chapels and crosses en route attests to the need to put their life in God’s hands. Hence on several cols in the Alps – such as the Grand St Bernard, Petit St Bernard and Simplon – we find hospices, erected by religious people to provide safe haven for those poor souls in need of food, shelter or security while trying to get to the next valley.
Theodulpass (3301m)
This pass is one of the most famous in the western Alps and a major crossing point on the Tour of Monte Rosa trek. In Roman times it was called Silvius, and is documented as early as AD3. The name Theodulpass dates from the late 17th century. It was named after St Theodul, a Christian missionary and the first Bishop of Valais towards the end of the fourth century. He made numerous visits to Italy, probably via this pass which now bears his name.
In 1895 54 coins dating from 2BC to AD4 were found just below the col, and these are now in an archaeological museum in Zermatt. It must certainly have been hotter and drier in those days, since these and other artefacts attest to the passage of the col on foot and on horseback. It would seem there was a small settlement on the col providing provisions and guided passage. From the 5th century onwards winters became more rigorous and the glaciers began to grow. Commercial caravans abandoned the route, but from the 9th century the glaciers regressed and there was a return of activity across the pass, with several monastic orders settling on both sides of the massif. In 1792 Horace Benedict de Saussure (famed as the main instigator of the first ascent of Mont Blanc) came this way and spent some time at the col measuring the exact altitude of the Matterhorn. Whilst there he apparently found the remains of an old fort built in 1688 by the Comte de Savoie.
The Little Ice Age from the 16th century onwards led to colder conditions and the glaciers grew accordingly. Cols such as the Theodulpass became more and more difficult to cross and would-be travellers were regularly victims of accidents while attempting this passage, be it from the cold, avalanches or crevasses. In 1825 a merchant fell into a crevasse with his horse, allegedly taking 10,000 francs with him – an incentive for bounty hunters for years to come. In the 20th century conditions on this pass became much easier – in 1910 a herd of 34 cows successfully made the passage – but, nevertheless, care must be taken here.
The Walser community
The Italian part of the Tour of Monte Rosa passes through several areas of Walser settlement. The Walsers are descended from Germanic peoples who, a thousand years ago, left their homeland to migrate throughout the Alps. They came from the German-speaking Upper Valais region – in German ‘Wallis’, hence Walliser people, giving the name ‘Walser’. Why they left their homeland is not known – possibly a natural catastrophe, climatic change, plague or a desire to roam – but wherever they settled they preserved their ancient German language, customs and traditions.
Monte Rosa towers over the hamlet of Alpe Bors (Stage 4)
They settled in the higher reaches of the Alps, not just in Italy but also in the Swiss Bernese Oberland and the Chablais region of France. They particularly favoured the southern Alpine valleys, especially those surrounding Monte Rosa. The Walser colonisation was achieved peacefully, as the Italian feudal lords in the Valsesia Valley had little to lose in granting them high-altitude land (generally above 1500m or even higher) which was regarded as inhospitable and therefore not exploited by the locals.
In return for maintaining these Alpine lands the Walsers were allowed freedom. Their communities were not subject to the laws of the region, and in effect they had their own sovereignty. The newcomers did not immediately establish relations with the locals, and initially received supplies of staple commodities such as salt, metal tools, cereals and clothing from the Valais. Later the colonies became practically self-sufficient and the umbilical cord linking them with their old country was broken. Their integration became complete when their self-governing parishes were recognised.
The inhabitants of these isolated colonies had to work hard to survive: they had to clear forest, till the land, create fields and meadows for cultivation and grazing, build houses and, during the summer, produce everything necessary to feed their families and animals during the long winter months. Their ethnic and linguistic isolation and difficulties in communication and transport made them fiercely independent and proudly free. They say that to breathe the air of the Walsers is to breathe the air of freedom.
(L to R) Signalkuppe, Zumsteinspitze and Dufourspitze seen from Nordend
The Walser culture is expressed not only through language and traditions but can also be seen in their traditional architecture and settlement patterns. The Walsers had to survive in rough conditions, so they became experts in farmwork, making tools and cultivating crops at altitude. Their houses were often built of wood and these buildings can be seen today (such as at the hamlet of Otro, above Alagna) and will be strung with tools, their large balconies supporting wooden frames for drying hay. Essential to the Walsers’ diet was rye bread, baked twice a year (in spring and autumn) in the communal oven. During the winter months it was kept on a special wooden rack hung out from the walls, to prevent attack by mice.
Those houses high in the meadows were isolated from each other to provide larger areas for cultivation around each one. In the towns, such as Alagna and Macugnaga, the houses were clustered together in small groups called frazioni (hamlets). Each hamlet, surrounded by a large area of fields, consisted of up to 12 private houses and some communal structures such as the chapel, one or more watermills, a big oven and a stone fountain, which always represented the focal point of the community. This decentralisation of the hamlets was carried out for reasons of safety (to avoid mass destruction through avalanches, landslides and flooding) as well as to gain the maximum amount of sunshine and to make use of local water supplies. In every hamlet the houses were built close together so that the roofs were almost touching, thus protecting the narrow lanes below from rain and snow.
This concentration of dwellings enabled quick and easy access to the communal services and to the cultivated fields. Walser houses could provide shelter for two or more families, together with their cattle. Stable, dwelling and barn – all the basic needs for the survival of mountain farming people – were concentrated under a single roof. Time for the Walsers was regulated by the seasons, as it still is for many country people, and their society was organised by common rules: everybody had to help build the houses, members of each family had to co-operate in snow shovelling and street maintenance, and so on.
Today the Walser community maintains its unique culture, architecture and language, albeit on a limited scale. Take the time to study the villages and hamlets encountered along the Tour to better understand the harsh way of life endured in these mountain communities. There is a Walser Museum in Alagna (www.alagna.it/en/ and click on ‘Alagna’ and then ‘The Walser Today’) and also one at Macugnaga in the hamlet of Borca.
The Otro Valley (Stage 4)
The valleys
Monte Rosa and its neighbouring summits form a huge massif from which glaciers descend on both the Swiss and Italian sides, flowing into valleys. On the Swiss side two main valleys, the Mattertal and the Saastal, drain down to the Rhône Valley, while on the Italian side it is a little more complicated. The Valtournanche, the Ayas Valley and the Lys Valley all descend to meet the Aosta Valley, where the main river is the Dora Baltea. The Valsesia drains down to the Po while the River Anza, which flows down the Anzasca Valley from Macugnaga, flows into Lake Maggiore.
Mattertal
Mattertal