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Punta Baretti

4,013 m

Italy

Also known as pointe Baretti, პუნტა-ბარეტი

pointe Baretti · პუნტა-ბარეტი

Elevation
4,013 m
Prominence
56 m
Difficulty
6/10
Alpine climb
Best Season
Jul
Routes
2

  • AdvisoryReported 28 Jul 2026

    Trip reports from late July 2026 describe very dry, loose conditions on the Brouillard Ridge, with almost no snow near the Col Émile Rey for melting water; carry extra gas and water capacity.

    camptocamp.org

  • AdvisoryReported 12 Jun 2026

    In June 2026 a party descending from the Col Émile Rey to the Monzino found the Glacier du Brouillard heavily crevassed below the Red Pillar, with a 20 m abseil from a snow bollard needed to pass the first crevasse.

    camptocamp.org

Routes

2
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Approximate line — not for navigation

An automated check found that parts of this line could not be matched to mapped trails, so it may stray far from the real route. Use it for planning only, with a map and a guidebook.

Why? 8 check notes
  • danger scan: Bivacco Eccles → Col Émile Rey: straight line 625 m (limit 200 m)
  • danger scan: Bivacco Eccles → Col Émile Rey: straight line 625 m above the last hut/bivouac
  • danger scan: Bivacco Eccles → Col Émile Rey: straight line: 61° over 25 m (> 60°, high-res DEM)
  • danger scan: Bivacco Eccles → Col Émile Rey: sustained 52° > 45° on a straight line
  • Rifugio Monzino → Bivacco Eccles: bridge (snap_failed; one off-graph gap, 3.3 km)
  • Bivacco Eccles → Col Émile Rey: straight (snap_failed; DEM rejected: no path below 45° between the endpoints, 0.6 km)
  • Col Émile Rey → Mont Brouillard: dem (snap_failed, 0.1 km)
  • Mont Brouillard → Punta Baretti: dem (snap_failed, 0.4 km)
AlpineADSources differ: PD (Wikipedia (Mont Brouillard: south and north ridges via Punta Baretti)) · D (PlanetMountain (Monzino–Eccles glacier approach))UIAAIIMixedNormal route

Sources differ: PD (Wikipedia (Mont Brouillard: south and north ridges via Punta Baretti)) · D (PlanetMountain (Monzino–Eccles glacier approach))

The usual way for 4,000er collectors: from the Rifugio Monzino up the broken Brouillard glacier to the Eccles bivouacs, a 50 m abseil and a 45° snow couloir to the Col Émile Rey (4,030 m), then south along the loose ridge over Mont Brouillard (4,069 m) to Punta Baretti. Remote, serious and rarely climbed; the summits themselves are only about 3 hours return from the col.

Elevation Profile

approximate line
1,0002,0003,0004,0005,0000 km2468Rifugio MonzinoBivacco Eccles
Distance
≈ 9.0 km
one way
Ascent
≈ +2,814 m
−331 m lost on the way up
High Point
4,048 m
Time Up
≈ 11h 10m
DIN 33466
Time Down
≈ 7h 51m
DIN 33466 · same way back

Day one: from the pay car park at Freney in Val Veny (about 1,570 m) cross the Dora and follow the marked path to the Rifugio Monzino (2,590 m), about 2½ hours; the last rock bars are passed on slabs equipped with chains and fixed ropes (a short via ferrata). Day two: from the hut follow cairns onto the moraine and the left bank of the Glacier du Brouillard (about 3,000 m), pass a crevassed zone near 3,200 m on rock steps to the right, then climb snow and rock to the ridge beyond the Pointe Innominata and abseil about 30 m back to the glacier near the Col du Frêney (this crest crossing can be avoided when the glacier is well bridged). Climb towards the south face of the Pic Eccles and up to the Eccles bivouacs at about 3,850–3,900 m; allow 5–7 hours from the Monzino. Fast parties instead go straight up the glacier from the Monzino to the Col Émile Rey in about 5 hours. Day three: from behind the upper bivouac a 50 m abseil from a large rope sling crosses the rimaye onto the small glacier below the Brouillard pillars. Head for the col along the foot of the rock wall on a 45° slope, cross the rimaye where possible, traverse a mixed band leftwards and climb the right-hand couloir to the Col Émile Rey (4,030 m). From the col follow the easy ridge south to its second dip and climb Mont Brouillard (4,069 m; on the way back it can be bypassed on the Brouillard side). Continue along the ridge over a short wall (II; a short equipped abseil for the return) to Punta Baretti (4,013 m). Camptocamp allows about 3 hours from the col to Punta Baretti and back. Return to the Eccles bivouacs and down the glacier to the Monzino, or descend the long snow couloir on the east side of the Col Émile Rey directly to the Brouillard glacier when it is in condition. The rock on the whole ridge is very loose, the couloir to the col is exposed to stonefall and avalanches in the sun, and the glacier approach changes from year to year.

Start

Freney1,530 m

  • Bus to Courmayeur (from Aosta, or from Chamonix through the Mont Blanc Tunnel), then the summer shuttle bus up Val Veny to Freney.
  • Parking at the trailhead

Stages

DayStagekmm ascentm descentTime
1Freney → Rifugio Monzino4.61,03904h 02m
2Rifugio Monzino → Bivacco Eccles3.21,3851075h 14m
3Bivacco Eccles → Punta Baretti1.23902231h 53m

Waypoints

  1. Parking:
    Freney1,530 m

    Pay car park in Val Veny; the road is closed when the car parks are full (summer shuttle bus)

  2. Hut:
    Rifugio Monzino2,569 m
  3. Bivouac:
    Bivacco Eccles3,847 m
  4. Col:
    Col Émile Rey4,020 m
  5. Shoulder:
    Mont Brouillard4,062 m
  6. Summit:
    Punta Baretti4,013 m

Key Passages

  • Chains and fixed ropes below the Rifugio Monzino
  • Crevassed Glacier du Brouillard around 3,200 m
  • 30 m abseil near the Col du Frêney (if crossing the crest)
  • 50 m abseil from the Eccles bivouac over the rimaye
  • 45° slope and couloir to the Col Émile Rey
  • Short wall (II) between Mont Brouillard and Punta Baretti

Equipment

0/13 packed
Technical
Glacier
Safety
Footwear
Clothing
Hut & Camping

Downloads

Route confidence 60%

Overview

A minor 4,013 m rock summit on the lower Brouillard Ridge of Mont Blanc, on the Italian side above Val Veny. With little prominence and no easy approach, it is climbed mainly by 4,000er collectors, usually together with Mont Brouillard from the Col Émile Rey, and is among the most remote and least visited summits on the UIAA list.

Punta Baretti (Pointe Baretti) is a rocky top on the long south-west ridge that runs from Mont Blanc down to Val Veny, between Mont Brouillard (4,069 m) to the north and the Col du Brouillard and the Aiguilles Rouges du Brouillard to the south. To the west it drops into the Miage basin, to the east to the Glacier du Brouillard and the Rifugio Monzino. It rises only about 56 m above its connecting col, so it counts as a subsidiary summit, but it appears on the UIAA list of Alpine 4,000 m peaks.

There is no easy way up. Most parties reach it from the Col Émile Rey, the notch at the foot of the Brouillard Ridge proper: two days via the Rifugio Monzino and the Eccles bivouacs, then a short but loose ridge traverse over Mont Brouillard to Punta Baretti and back. The alternative is the lower Brouillard Ridge from Val Veny, a long day of loose scrambling to the summit, usually as the start of the 'Intégrale du Brouillard' to Mont Blanc. Both are committing, with unstable rock, crevassed glaciers, stonefall in the couloirs and few other parties.

The reward is solitude and an unusual view of the Brouillard and Frêney faces of Mont Blanc. Many who have done it describe the summit itself as insignificant and the rock as some of the worst they have climbed; this is a peak for completists and lovers of wild terrain rather than for a first big route.

Climbing Notes

Only for experienced alpinists: you need to be at ease on loose II–III rock with a heavy pack, on 45° snow and ice, with glacier travel and crevasse rescue, and with setting up abseils from doubtful anchors. Navigation on the Glacier du Brouillard and in the couloir to the Col Émile Rey changes year to year; talk to the Rifugio Monzino or the Courmayeur guides first. Self-sufficiency matters: the Eccles bivouacs are unstaffed and small, there is no water other than snow, and help is far away.

Typical itinerary: day one Freney to the Rifugio Monzino (2½ hours); day two to the Eccles bivouacs (5–7 hours); day three to the Col Émile Rey, over Mont Brouillard to Punta Baretti and back (about 3 hours from the col), then down to the Monzino or on up the Brouillard Ridge to Mont Blanc. Fast parties go straight from the Monzino to the col. Choose a period of stable, cold weather in early to mid-summer, when the glacier and the couloir are well filled with snow; late in a dry summer the couloir becomes stone-raked ice and the ridge has no snow for water.

History

The summit is named after Martino Baretti, who with the guide Jean-Joseph Maquignaz made the first ascent on 28 July 1880 from the south-west and claimed a traverse to Mont Brouillard. The Mont Brouillard part of the claim was disputed by Karl Blodig, who found no cairn there when he climbed it with Oscar Eckenstein and Alexis Brocherel on 10 July 1906. The south ridge and a return traverse were first done on 21–22 August 1923 by a French party including Jacques and Tom de Lépiney. The 1,100 m south-west couloir ('Au Bout du Monde') was first climbed and skied by Pierre Tardivel, Sébastien de Sainte Marie and Jérémy Janody on 1 May 2006, and on 7–9 September 2009 Simon Richardson and Duncan Tunstall made the first ascent of the 1,200 m south-west spur (ED1).

Season

Best Jul
  1. January: Not advisable
  2. February: Not advisable
  3. March: Not advisable
  4. April: Possible
  5. May: Possible
  6. June: Good
  7. July: Best (best window)
  8. August: Good
  9. September: Possible
  10. October: Not advisable
  11. November: Not advisable
  12. December: Not advisable
Jan
Winter; remote and avalanche-prone approach
Feb
Winter conditions
Mar
Winter conditions
Apr
Spring snow; rare ski and couloir ascents in very good conditions
May
Couloirs well filled; Val Veny road and Monzino hut not yet open
Jun
Rifugio Monzino opens mid-June; good snow cover on the glacier and couloir
Jul
Best period; stable weather, glacier still well bridged
Aug
Glacier more broken, more stonefall; little snow for water in dry summers
Sep
Monzino closes in September; icy couloirs
Oct
Hut closed, early winter
Nov
Winter conditions
Dec
Winter conditions

Access & Permits

Hut Booking
Rifugio Monzino: info@rifugiomonzino.com, tel. +39 0165 809553 or +39 333 9480629. The Eccles bivouacs cannot be booked.
Fees
  • Pay-and-display parking at Freney in Val Veny
  • Rifugio Monzino overnight fees (owned by the Società delle Guide di Courmayeur)
Rules
  • Val Veny is a restricted-traffic zone open to cars only in summer; once the pay car parks are full the road is closed and a shuttle bus runs; the road beyond La Visaille is closed to traffic
  • Rifugio Monzino: a sleeping bag is compulsory
  • Of the two Eccles bivouacs, the older Bivacco Crippa was reported wrecked and unusable in June 2022; only the newer Lampugnani-Grassi bivouac (7 places) is usable
Getting There

Courmayeur (Italy)

Geneva (GVA), Turin (TRN) or Milan Malpensa (MXP)

  • Bus to Courmayeur from Aosta, or from Chamonix through the Mont Blanc Tunnel
  • Summer shuttle bus from Courmayeur up Val Veny; by car about 5 km up the Val Veny road to the Freney pay car park

Hazards

  • Rockfall
  • Remoteness
  • Crevasses
  • Glacier
  • Exposure
  • Altitude
  • Avalanche
  • Weather

Huts & Shelters

2

  • Rifugio MonzinoRefugeStaffed

    55 beds · Summer only, roughly mid-June to mid/late September; small unstaffed winter room (about 8–10 places, no water)

    Website of Rifugio Monzino

    2,590 m

  • Bivacco EcclesBivouacUnstaffed

    7 beds · Year-round, unstaffed

    Website of Bivacco Eccles

    3,860 m