The Sentiero Roma in Val Masino

There are mountains that let anyone approach them, and mountains that pick and choose who walks them. The Sentiero Roma, in Val Masino, belongs firmly to the second category. It is a high-altitude loop through the granite of the Rhaetian Alps, in the province of Sondrio, linking a series of historic mountain huts as it crosses rocky notches and passages. Though famous among mountaineers, it remains surprisingly uncrowded compared with the great commercial Alpine traverses: its technical difficulty deters mass tourism and reserves it for those with experience and a steady foot.

The route

Val Masino is a side valley of the Valtellina, dominated by the imposing granite walls of the Masino Group, a climbing paradise known throughout Europe. The Sentiero Roma runs high along the slope that closes off the head of the valley, connecting some of the best-known huts in the group, including the Rifugio Omio, the Rifugio Gianetti, the Rifugio Allievi-Bonacossa and the Rifugio Ponti. Getting from one to the next means crossing a series of bocchette, rocky saddles between one valley and the next, some of them fitted with chains, ladders and exposed sections where you have to move with real focus. The scenery is grand: granite spires piercing the sky, scree slopes, lingering snowfields and high mountain tarns, with views sweeping across the most important peaks of the group. You walk always in a harsh, rocky landscape, far from any comfort.

The commitment

This is no trek for beginners. Although it is not a climbing route, the Sentiero Roma demands a sure foot, a head for heights and the ability to move over exposed, equipped terrain; on some stretches many choose to protect themselves with a harness and via ferrata set. The daily elevation gains are considerable and the fatigue builds up stage after stage, because you stay high the whole time, moving from one bocchetta to the next. Conditions can change fast, and residual snow or ice on the saddles, even in high summer, makes the passage far trickier. It is essential to check the state of the route with the hut keepers, to book your beds well in advance and to carry proper gear, warm clothing, helmet and via ferrata equipment included.

When to go

The window when it can be walked is narrow: July, August and September. Only in these months are the bocchette usually free of snow and the huts open and staffed. At the very start and end of this window conditions can still hold surprises, so you should always check before setting off. Even though August is the busiest month for the mountains in general, here the numbers stay modest compared with the great Alpine circuits, precisely because the technical challenge naturally filters who comes through. Those who climb up here do so knowingly, and the traverse keeps an intimate, true high-mountain atmosphere.

An alpinism classic

There is a reason the Sentiero Roma is considered a classic of mountaineering hiking in the central Alps. The chain of bocchette and huts traces a full circuit around the head of the valley, offering different views each day of the same imposing granite, seen from ever-new angles. Hut life, too, is an integral part of the experience: evenings shared with other walkers and mountaineers, the keepers' stories, the tiredness that melts away over a hot meal. It is an old, honest way of being in the mountains that survives here, far from fashion and the crush of more celebrated destinations.

A practical tip: never underestimate the weather, and don't hesitate to turn back or shorten the route if conditions worsen. On these exposed saddles a storm or fog turns an already delicate passage into a serious situation. Book the huts well in advance, set off very early each morning to leave yourself a margin, and tackle the traverse with a reliable companion, never alone unless you are highly experienced. And treat yourself to one extra evening in a hut to enjoy the silence of the granite at sunset: it is one of those rewards that make every effort worthwhile.