Route: Sentiero Roma (Italy)

The Sentiero Roma is a classic Alpine hiking route running from Novate Mezzola to Torre di Santa Maria, Italy, across the Val Masino Alps, north of Milan and just south of the Swiss border.   The central section of the route is shared with the famed skyrace Trofeo Kima, which runs in the opposite direction.

Established in 1928 by the Italian Alpine Club of Milan, the route was designed to allow hikers to go from one hut to another without descending to the bottom of the valley.  At 54km long, and with 4,500 m of ascent, the route goes over 8 mountain passes (often steep and equipped with chains and/or fixed ropes) and links up 5 high mountain huts.  For hikers, the Sentiero Roma is a popular (though considered very challenging) trail, typically undertaken over several days with stays in the huts.

The vast majority of the route takes place above tree line, across a landscape described as a “kingdom of granite”.  Spectacular panoramic views are present along its entirety, with impressive granite rock faces, views up toward Piz Badile, Piz Cengalo, and Monte Disgrazia, and down toVal Masino and Val di Mello (famous as a rock climbing destination).

Contrary to Trofeo Kima, the route becomes increasingly high and technical as you go, with the last three passes climbing over 2,800 m, and the highest point at 2,950m.  The period for this route is can be limited because of conditions: neves and snowfields persist well into the summer, and new ice and snow can form on the upper sections—all of which can add difficulty to the mountain passes (especially when chains and ropes are frozen or under snow or ice), and additional risk to exposed traverses.  Therefore, most traverses occur between July and September.

The first known record was established by Flavio Arrigoni (9:15:48), and beaten by Fabio Contessa in 2001 in 9:04:27.  On August 8, 2020, local skyrunner Valentino Speziale improved the time further to 8:42:32.