Monday
Sep072009
1976 - Hannibal's Route Across the Cottian Alps from France into Italy
Text of Part 1 of the expedition write up by JTK Barr
The Hannibal Trail (Part 1)
[First published in the Paisley Daily Express, 24 September 1976]
As we rounded the corner of the poorly surfaced road, the prospect facing us was, to say the least, daunting.
Beyond the pines still clothing the steep valley sides. the immense bulk of Mount Vise soared 12,600ft. into the blue sky, its lower slopes steep and rocky, its upper regions clothed in snow-fields and glaciers.
This peak was the highest in the region, but a jagged ridge, marking the border between France and Italy, ran from the mountain in a north-westerly direction and averaging 11,000ft. in height.
Somewhere along that ridge, but hidden from us by a bend in the valley, would be the pass we had come to cross - the 10.000ft. Col de la Traversette.
Since 1962, our Troop has mounted an expedition every two years, and we have already explored Corsica, Andorra. Central Jugoslavia, the High Tatras of Poland and Czechoslovakia, Sicily and Mount Etna. the Sierra Nevada Mountains of S. E. Spain. and the Transylvanian Alps of Romania.
Financial problems made the choice of area for the 1976 expedition a difficult one to make, but we finally decided on the Cottian Alps, straddling the French / Italian border, and dominated by Mont Vise.
Further investigation and research brought to light the fact that it was through these mountains in 218 B.C. that Hannibal, the Carthaginian general passed with 36,000 infantry 8,000 cavalry and 37 elephants to attack the power of Rome.
We then decided to follow his route, and so began to collect as much information as possible about his epic journey. His plan was nothing more than to march with his armies in Spain across the Pyrenees and then the Alps, and strike the Romans from the north.
The elephants Hannibal used were found on the lower slopes of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa and were much smaller than Indian elephants or their African cousins still found further south today.
The actual crossing from the French side to the Italian took Hannibal's army fifteen days, and conditions (it was November) were very bad with deep snow and avalanches.
Although strangely enough, all his elephants made it safely, his men were reduced to 6,000 cavalry, 12,000 African infantry and 8000 Spaniards.
We reached Briancon in the south east of France at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, August 3.
From here we took a local bus southwards for twenty miles along the valley of the River Durance as far as the small town of Giullestre, where the River Guil joined the Durance.
We were now on Hannibal's route, and for the next four days we walked up the Guil Valley, going higher and higher into the mountains.
The sun was very strong and we covered only four miles the first day, sleeping out beneath the stars by a small stream rushing down from the higher hills. The next day took us through the steep and narrow gorges for which this section of the Guil is noted.
At times the road clung to the side of the cliffs, many hundreds of feet above the river, at others it had been hacked through the rocks in a series of tunnels.
We stopped to eat our lunch in the village of Chateau Queyras, built around a large rock topped by a castle rather like Stirling, and constructed to guard the valley in the 13th and 14th centuries when it acted as a trade route to Northern Italy.
Contemporary writings of Hannibal's campaign describe a large rock on which the advance part of his forces camped after coming out of the gorge, and this outcrop at Chateau Queyras seems to fit these descriptions and give more credence to the fact that Traversette was his route.
That night we slept out under the stars yet again in a small clearing in the pine forest just off the road. The next day, our third, we passed through the large village of Aiguilles and the attractive, but smaller, Abries, gaining height steadily, and catching glimpses of snow fields further up the long valley.
The river had by now turned through 90 degrees and we were heading south east to pass through the tiny farming communities of Ristolas, La Monta and l'Echalp.
Beyond l'Echalp, the route deteriorated into a narrow and badly surfaced road and began to climb in earnest through the last of the pine trees at about 6,000ft. After a night's rest, once more without pitching the tents, we followed this road still higher.
With every bend, we expected to see Mont Vise, and since some of the peaks which were visible were pretty dramatic, it was with some trepidation and not a little worry that we rounded each corner.
And now, here at last, was the mountain soaring up before us.
It was even higher and more dramatic than we had imagined from our maps. We searched in vain for some indication of how difficult the ascent to the Col de la Traversette would be but it was still hidden by a bend in the volley.
Three miles later, at about 7,000ft., the road came to an end at a small car park, hut a number of footpaths led off towards climbing huts around Viso and one of these tracks would lead to our pass.
We decided to go on, and for a further-hour we followed the track, twisting and turning as we gained height. The long hot day and the loaded rucksacks made our pace very slow.
At about 5 p.m. we emerged out on to a gently sloping grassy shoulder, just below the steep and boulder strewn slopes. This would be our final camp on the French side, and we lost no time in pitching our five small mountain tents. We were at 8,000ft., and just above us the snow patches began.
After a meal cooked on our small paraffin stoves, we examined the maps once again. Our route was visible, climbing up into a high rocky corrie, but the top of the pass, 2,000ft. above us, was still hidden by an outcrop of rock and a large snow field seemed to cross the final approach.
We had to have more information, so two leaders took a small rucksack containing survival gear, and set off to investigate.
They returned two hours later at dusk, very tired, but with some good news and some bad news. The track to the Col, although long and winding, would offer no great problems other than some tricky crossings of steep scree slopes and the snowfield thought to be blocking our way could be avoided. However, from the top of the pass, the track dropped very steeply into a deep corrie some 1000 ft. below, and this part would prove difficult.
Also, the Italian valley was buried in a thick layer of cloud, with the peaks standing up through it like islands.
We knew that Hannibal hand lost many men and animals on the descent from the pass into Italy, and that this would be the most difficult part of the crossing. Although confident our training would pull us through, I knew, as leader of the expedition, that I might have decide to retrace our steps down the Guil valley if the descent to the Po valley proved too dangerous. However, that was a problem to be tackled the following day.
To be continued...
[First published in the Paisley Daily Express, 24 September 1976]
As we rounded the corner of the poorly surfaced road, the prospect facing us was, to say the least, daunting.
Beyond the pines still clothing the steep valley sides. the immense bulk of Mount Vise soared 12,600ft. into the blue sky, its lower slopes steep and rocky, its upper regions clothed in snow-fields and glaciers.
This peak was the highest in the region, but a jagged ridge, marking the border between France and Italy, ran from the mountain in a north-westerly direction and averaging 11,000ft. in height.
Somewhere along that ridge, but hidden from us by a bend in the valley, would be the pass we had come to cross - the 10.000ft. Col de la Traversette.
Since 1962, our Troop has mounted an expedition every two years, and we have already explored Corsica, Andorra. Central Jugoslavia, the High Tatras of Poland and Czechoslovakia, Sicily and Mount Etna. the Sierra Nevada Mountains of S. E. Spain. and the Transylvanian Alps of Romania.
Financial problems made the choice of area for the 1976 expedition a difficult one to make, but we finally decided on the Cottian Alps, straddling the French / Italian border, and dominated by Mont Vise.
Further investigation and research brought to light the fact that it was through these mountains in 218 B.C. that Hannibal, the Carthaginian general passed with 36,000 infantry 8,000 cavalry and 37 elephants to attack the power of Rome.
We then decided to follow his route, and so began to collect as much information as possible about his epic journey. His plan was nothing more than to march with his armies in Spain across the Pyrenees and then the Alps, and strike the Romans from the north.
The elephants Hannibal used were found on the lower slopes of the Atlas Mountains in North Africa and were much smaller than Indian elephants or their African cousins still found further south today.
The actual crossing from the French side to the Italian took Hannibal's army fifteen days, and conditions (it was November) were very bad with deep snow and avalanches.
Although strangely enough, all his elephants made it safely, his men were reduced to 6,000 cavalry, 12,000 African infantry and 8000 Spaniards.
We reached Briancon in the south east of France at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, August 3.
From here we took a local bus southwards for twenty miles along the valley of the River Durance as far as the small town of Giullestre, where the River Guil joined the Durance.
We were now on Hannibal's route, and for the next four days we walked up the Guil Valley, going higher and higher into the mountains.
The sun was very strong and we covered only four miles the first day, sleeping out beneath the stars by a small stream rushing down from the higher hills. The next day took us through the steep and narrow gorges for which this section of the Guil is noted.
At times the road clung to the side of the cliffs, many hundreds of feet above the river, at others it had been hacked through the rocks in a series of tunnels.
We stopped to eat our lunch in the village of Chateau Queyras, built around a large rock topped by a castle rather like Stirling, and constructed to guard the valley in the 13th and 14th centuries when it acted as a trade route to Northern Italy.
Contemporary writings of Hannibal's campaign describe a large rock on which the advance part of his forces camped after coming out of the gorge, and this outcrop at Chateau Queyras seems to fit these descriptions and give more credence to the fact that Traversette was his route.
That night we slept out under the stars yet again in a small clearing in the pine forest just off the road. The next day, our third, we passed through the large village of Aiguilles and the attractive, but smaller, Abries, gaining height steadily, and catching glimpses of snow fields further up the long valley.
The river had by now turned through 90 degrees and we were heading south east to pass through the tiny farming communities of Ristolas, La Monta and l'Echalp.
Beyond l'Echalp, the route deteriorated into a narrow and badly surfaced road and began to climb in earnest through the last of the pine trees at about 6,000ft. After a night's rest, once more without pitching the tents, we followed this road still higher.
With every bend, we expected to see Mont Vise, and since some of the peaks which were visible were pretty dramatic, it was with some trepidation and not a little worry that we rounded each corner.
And now, here at last, was the mountain soaring up before us.
It was even higher and more dramatic than we had imagined from our maps. We searched in vain for some indication of how difficult the ascent to the Col de la Traversette would be but it was still hidden by a bend in the volley.
Three miles later, at about 7,000ft., the road came to an end at a small car park, hut a number of footpaths led off towards climbing huts around Viso and one of these tracks would lead to our pass.
We decided to go on, and for a further-hour we followed the track, twisting and turning as we gained height. The long hot day and the loaded rucksacks made our pace very slow.
At about 5 p.m. we emerged out on to a gently sloping grassy shoulder, just below the steep and boulder strewn slopes. This would be our final camp on the French side, and we lost no time in pitching our five small mountain tents. We were at 8,000ft., and just above us the snow patches began.
After a meal cooked on our small paraffin stoves, we examined the maps once again. Our route was visible, climbing up into a high rocky corrie, but the top of the pass, 2,000ft. above us, was still hidden by an outcrop of rock and a large snow field seemed to cross the final approach.
We had to have more information, so two leaders took a small rucksack containing survival gear, and set off to investigate.
They returned two hours later at dusk, very tired, but with some good news and some bad news. The track to the Col, although long and winding, would offer no great problems other than some tricky crossings of steep scree slopes and the snowfield thought to be blocking our way could be avoided. However, from the top of the pass, the track dropped very steeply into a deep corrie some 1000 ft. below, and this part would prove difficult.
Also, the Italian valley was buried in a thick layer of cloud, with the peaks standing up through it like islands.
We knew that Hannibal hand lost many men and animals on the descent from the pass into Italy, and that this would be the most difficult part of the crossing. Although confident our training would pull us through, I knew, as leader of the expedition, that I might have decide to retrace our steps down the Guil valley if the descent to the Po valley proved too dangerous. However, that was a problem to be tackled the following day.
To be continued...
tagged 
1976
1976
Reader Comments (1)
Very interesting History. Gonna check that route out. Never realised it was that high regarding the passage for the elephants - another lesson taught from the old man.