Punta Rama – Unforgettable night in a modern bivouac

Have you ever dreamed about spending a night feeling like it’s on top of the world? Finding about this cabin was one of the biggest surprises I’ve found while staying in the foothills of Italian alps. The winter season started, the hiking refuges around Italy are mostly closed for the winter season and here I am trying to find how I could spend the night up in the mountains. Luckily Italian alps are full of amazing bivouacs (small mountain cabins/shelters) that are mostly open through the year. Some of them have minimal comfort and provide a basic shelter from the harsh mountain weather, but this one was quite special. Located at over 2400 meters high, built back in 2020 so its quite new, equipped with a stove, lots of blankets, mattresses, solar charged lights and USB ports, big windows with the most beautiful view to the plains of Italy. It is not far from Turin since it sits on one of the first mountains from the Italian side and to start hiking you don’t need to drive deep into the valley. There are a couple of options on how to reach it.

How to reach this bivouac?

Reaching this bivouac wasn’t an easy challenge. I started my route going from Santa Elisabetta hiking up to Punta Quiunseina di Santa Elisabetta and then following the Beltrando ridge all the way to the bivouac. The route is quite challenging and some sections have cables and steps installed along the ridge and should be done as a via ferrata. It took me a good 6 intense hours to reach it, but I was going quite fast. As for the way down I descended through the western side, which also had a small section of cables close to the top. If you are looking for a faster but less scenic way to get up or down I would recommend driving to Monteu and starting from there. To find out more information click here.