サンタマリアマッジョーレの峡谷・トップ13

Memorial to cyclist Marco Pantani. PS The pass summit is also accessible with a 2-speed road bike.

Very nice climb surrounded by greenery.

Great climb with never bad gradients.

Beautiful valley, offers very beautiful views.

Very nice climb with many shaded sections, the asphalt is in good condition.

There is a feeling of abrupt detachment when we enter what seems to be the mysterious door to the very heart of the mountain: almost suddenly we pass from a gentle, sunny and verdant landscape to a space of shadow where rare rays of sun struggle to penetrate, grazing the walls like blades of light, we pass from the heat to the cool-humid where only mosses and lichens manage to thrive and develop. We walk easily on the flat and dry bottom, created by the deposits of the streams, large irregularly rounded cavities alternate with narrow passages and above our heads dizzying walls seem at times to almost join together leaving only narrow openings towards the sky. Some metal ladders make the climb easier.

In Maiesso (535 m) you can admire, along the course of the Toce river, the so-called 'giants' potholes': the rocky banks hit by the swirling subglacial current, have been sculpted as if they were soft clay, giving rise to semicircular, sinuous, smooth and enveloping shapes, splendid inlets where the current relaxes and the torrent widens into sparkling pools of water that invite you to take a dive and a 'vivifying' immersion. Here you can also observe the "zero unit", the oldest formation in our Alps that emerges only here in the Antigorio valley.

The Cannobina valley starts from Cannobio, on Lake Maggiore, and ends on the Scopello pass. The road that passes through the Cannobina valley has little traffic and is very pleasant to travel on, as it is often shaded. This valley was the scene of partisan battles in 1944.