Capanna Fratelli Gugliermina

The Capanna Fratelli Gugliermina is an unstaffed alpine hut (rifugio incustodito) owned by the Varallo Sesia section of the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI). It stands at 3,212 metres above sea level in the municipality of Alagna Valsesia, in the Valsesia valley of the Pennine Alps, Piedmont, northern Italy. The hut sits on the southern side of Punta Parrot, just below the small glacier of the same name, in a commanding position with a wide eastern panorama. The structure was built in 1902 on the initiative of the brothers Giovanni Battista and Giuseppe Fortunato Gugliermina, who wanted to make access to the Valsesian wall of Monte Rosa easier. It was historically also known as the Capanna Valsesia. The building comprises two rooms: one used as a kitchen and the other as a dormitory with twelve bunks. It was renovated in 1998. Because it is unstaffed, the Capanna Gugliermina does not offer the catering, bedding or booking services of a staffed rifugio. It functions as a shelter and base for mountaineers and ski tourers. The normal approach starts from Alagna at the Acqua Bianca locality (1,495 m), passes the Alpe Pile (Rifugio Francesco Pastore) and follows the moraine of the Ghiacciaio delle Piode and the south wall of Punta Parrot, with some fixed ropes, in about five to six hours. From the hut climbers can reach Punta Parrot (4,436 m), Piramide Vincent (4,215 m), Punta Giordani (4,046 m), Corno Nero (4,322 m) and Ludwigshöhe (4,342 m). It also serves as a point on traverses to the Rifugio Barba-Ferrero (2,240 m) and the Capanna Luigina Resegotti (3,624 m). The hut is listed among the bivouacs and support structures managed by CAI Varallo on its official pages, alongside the better-known Monte Rosa huts such as Capanna Margherita, Capanna Gnifetti, Rifugio Pastore and Rifugio Carestia.

The Capanna Fratelli Gugliermina was built in 1902 on the initiative of the brothers Giovanni Battista and Giuseppe Fortunato Gugliermina. Their aim was to make access to the peaks of the Valsesian wall of Monte Rosa easier, at a time when alpinism in the Pennine Alps was expanding and mountain huts were being established to shorten approaches and support new routes. In its early period the structure was also known as the Capanna Valsesia. The hut was placed on the southern flank of Punta Parrot, just below the small glacier of the same name, at an altitude of 3,212 metres. It consists of two rooms, one serving as a kitchen and the other as a dormitory with twelve bunks. Over the twentieth century the building passed into the ownership of the Varallo Sesia section of the Club Alpino Italiano, which continues to own and manage it as an unstaffed shelter. In 1998 the hut was renovated. Today the Capanna Gugliermina is listed by CAI Varallo among its bivouacs and support structures in Valsesia and on Monte Rosa, together with staffed huts such as Capanna Margherita, Capanna Gnifetti, Rifugio Pastore and Rifugio Carestia. It remains a modest but historically significant waypoint for climbers and ski mountaineers on the southern side of the Monte Rosa massif.

• 1998

  The hut is renovated.

• 1902

  The hut is built on the initiative of the brothers Giovanni Battista and Giuseppe Fortunato Gugliermina.

A historic, unstaffed CAI shelter and mountaineering base on the Valsesian side of Monte Rosa.

• Capanna Fratelli Gugliermina (unstaffed hut, 3,212 m)

  Two-room shelter with a kitchen and a 12-bunk dormitory on the southern flank of Punta Parrot.

1. 1CAI Rifugi - Cai Varallocaivarallo.com
2. 2Capanna Fratelli Gugliermina - Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Capanna Fratelli Gugliermina - Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org