The Grignone, or Grigna Settentrionale, at 2,410 metres is the highest peak of the Grigne, the limestone massif that forms a wall between the Lecco branch of the Lario and the Valsassina; it is less rugged than its sister the Grignetta and offers hiking, climbing and ski-touring routes.
History
The name is tied to a legend and to an etymology. The word “Grigna” seems to derive from the Lombard grignà, “to smirk”, probably referring to the many caves of the group, which on the walls look like dark grins. The legend tells of a cruel warrior who had a knight in love with her killed by a sentinel: as punishment they were turned into mountains, she into the Grignone and the sentinel into the Grignetta. According to Lecco Tourism the rocks, of marine origin and rich in fossils, also fascinated Leonardo da Vinci, who studied them and mentioned them in the Codex Atlanticus.
The geology has an even longer story. On the south flank, towards the Valsassina, the layers of the Middle Triassic Buchenstein Formation have yielded a deposit of fossil fish, dominated by the perleidiforms: it was discovered by Andrea Tintori of the University of Milan during a teaching excursion; after the first trial digs of 2003-2005 excavation campaigns were run in the summers of 2006-2009, and the site is remarkable for the quantity and variety of its species, some new to science.
What to see
The mountain has three sides. The south-west one, the steepest, drops towards the lake; the eastern one, wooded, spreads evenly towards the Valsassina; the northern one drops from the Moncodeno towards the Cainallo pass, above Esino Lario. The landscape changes constantly: beech woods on the Moncodeno, karst sinkholes, larches around the Bogani hut, then dwarf pines and alpine pastures; erosion has carved the Porta di Prada, a natural rock arch. The Moncodeno and the nearby Releccio basin are the most karstic part of the massif, with hundreds of cavities, and the waters of these caves come back to light, eight kilometres away, in the Fiumelatte spring at Varenna. From the top the view, according to Lecco Tourism, ranges from the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa to the spires of Milan Cathedral. For climbers the south face of the Sasso Cavallo offers routes of up to 500 metres, including the Cassin route (Wikipedia).
Getting there
The most classic route for good hikers is the Traversata Alta, the ridge linking the summit of the Grignetta to that of the Grignone. You can also climb from the lake side, from the hamlets above Mandello del Lario, or more comfortably from the Valsassina (Balisio and Pasturo) and the Val d’Esino; according to Wikipedia the normal route starts from Pasturo on the eastern side. In winter the summit is a very popular ski-touring goal, from Pasturo and from the Cainallo. Times, difficulty and trail conditions change with the season and should be checked before setting out (CAI, hut managers, weather forecast).
Practical information
- Height: 2,410 metres (Wikipedia, Wikidata, La Valsassina). According to La Valsassina, OpenStreetMap and the Region’s Rifugi di Lombardia portal the summit is in the municipality of Pasturo; this page is linked to Mandello del Lario, the lakeside municipality with a page on the site.
- Huts on the massif: Brioschi, on the summit (see its page); Bogani, Bietti-Buzzi and Elisa; Antonietta at the Pialeral; and the Riva-Girani, 89th Brigata Poletti and Merlini bivouacs (the last closed, according to La Valsassina). We have not verified opening days and services on an official source.
Sources
- La Valsassina, Grigna Settentrionale entry
- Lecco Tourism, The Grigne
- Paleoitalia, Grignone: predators and prey
- Wikipedia, Grigna settentrionale entry; Wikidata and OpenStreetMap.