Cima della Bondasca, Mountain summit on the Swiss-Italian border, Bregaglia Range
Cima della Bondasca, also called Pizzo del Ferro centrale, is the 3,289-metre summit of the Pizzi del Ferro, a small chain running from Passo di Bondo (3,168 m) to Colle Masino (3,061 m) on the Italian-Swiss border. Its south side is rocky with marked spurs; the Val Bondasca flank is covered by the Bondasca glacier up to the top, while the Albigna side drops in gullies and rock walls up to 500 metres high.
The first ascent was made in 1876 by engineer L. Held, then head of the Swiss federal topographic office, who climbed from the Bondasca glacier to carry out surveys. That route remains the normal ascent from the Swiss side, starting at the Sciora hut. The summit lies on the Italian-Swiss border between Val Masino and Val Bondasca.
The peak's Italian name, Pizzo del Ferro centrale, refers to the iron (ferro) of the Valle del Ferro below it. The normal route from the Swiss side starts at the Sciora hut of the Swiss Alpine Club, and the mountain is also a ski-mountaineering objective reached mainly from Val Bondasca.
The normal route from Switzerland starts at the Sciora Hut (2,118 m) and climbs the Bondasca Glacier to the summit, rated PD. From Italy, the Gianetti (2,534 m) and Allievi-Bonacossa (2,385 m) huts give access to the Ferro peaks via cols and crests at F to PD grades. The Ronconi bivouac sits a few metres east of Passo di Bondo on the Italian side.
At this summit, three river valleys meet at a natural triangle point where water flows in different directions toward separate regions. This geographic feature makes it a rare point of hydrological interest in the Alps.
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