Basic alpine
PD− — a gentle glacier with a short rocky finish
Glacier travel: crampons, ice axe, rope teams.
2 days
No permit
No permit; book the Chabod or Vittorio Emanuele II hut.
Pont Valsavarenche
Crowds: medium
Summer (June–September) for the classic climb; April–May is a renowned ski-mountaineering ascent. The final rock step to the Madonna statue can queue on busy weekends.
Gran Paradiso is where many alpinists earn their first 4,000 m summit: a straightforward glacier ascent with just enough crevasse terrain to make rope work meaningful, finishing with an easy scramble to the summit Madonna. The hut approach through ibex-filled meadows is part of the charm. It is an ideal shakedown before Mont Blanc.
A half-day 4,000er — the classic first taste of glacier climbing, with the Matterhorn filling your camera.
Austria's highest peak — a sharp, elegant summit with an airy final ridge that means it.
Western Europe's highest summit and the birthplace of alpinism — a classic first big glacier climb.