Corno Grande

Corno Grande, 2,912 metres, is the highest peak of the Apennines and the crowning summit of the Gran Sasso massif in Abruzzo. Rising far south of the main Alpine chain, it holds the Calderone, long regarded as one of the southernmost glaciers in Europe, now shrunk to a fragile perennial ice patch.

Its pale limestone bulk dominates the vast Campo Imperatore plateau, a high moorland sometimes called Italy's Little Tibet, and the mountain is beloved by climbers from Rome, Naples and Pescara. Its accessibility and mountaineering history make it the spiritual home of Apennine alpinism.

Routes span the spectrum. The Via Normale to the western summit is a steep marked scramble with grade I to II passages, manageable for fit hillwalkers with a head for heights. For more, the Via Ferrata Danesi and the Brizio route add cabled climbing, while the Corno Piccolo and the eastern faces offer multi-pitch rock lines up to high grades on generally solid limestone. Rockfall and sudden afternoon storms are the chief dangers, and a helmet is standard on the higher routes.

A cable car from Fonte Cerreto lifts visitors to Campo Imperatore near 2,130 metres, close to the trailheads and the historic hotel that once held Mussolini. The season runs from June to September, with July and August safest for the high routes. L'Aquila and Assergi are the valley approaches, with guides based locally. Sound footwear and an early start beat the frequent afternoon cloud build-up, and the summit offers a huge panorama across the Apennines to both the Adriatic and, on rare clear days, the Tyrrhenian coast.