We were back to the Ortler this year, joined by a hardy crew ready for adventure.

Day one, waiting for the ski bus in Sulden, the weather was promising. From left to right: Brian Robinson, Sharon Grasso, John Wason, John Lashbrook, Reilly Anderson, Tess Jankovsky, Wade Collins, and Kathy.

Leaving the Sulden ski area, and heading over the Madritsch pass into the wild.

En route to the Marteller hut.

Zufallspitze in the early morning of day 2.

We headed up the glacier in cold breezes, but almost balmy in comparison to the previous week.

Wending our way down the labyrinth of the Cedec glacier.

A glorious powder run along the glacier edge.

Then it was up again...

... to the Cevedale/Pasquale col.

The "mountaineering" part of ski mountaineering.

Then the reward, a nice long run down to the Branca hut.

Purdy turns!

On day three, we headed up the glacier toward Tresero peak. The ice caves at the toe of the glacier change location from year to year, but are always an interesting sight.

The mists gradually thinned as we got higher.

We broke out into the sunshine above cloud level on the summit ridge.

On top of Tresero!

Mark in his element.

The snow on our descent was remarkably delicious!

John and Reilly doing a bit of snowy ballet...

Hunting for freshies!

The next day, light conditions were not conducive to photography, but the snow was excellent for skiing, whether you could see where you were going, or not!

Snowfall sets in as we climb back up to the hut.

Day five started out well, much clearer than forecast, so we headed up in hopes of summitting Pasquale.

Things started to look rather socked in as we gained elevation however.

Finally, in worsening conditions, we decided it was more sensible to beat a retreat and take the safer, low elevation route to our destination, the Pizzini hut.

This brought us back to the Branca hut however, just in time for elevensies!

Then onward through the snows.

Day 6, we are back in blue skies.

We headed up to the west of the hut for a favorite tour of ours, a circumnavigation of Cima Zebru. Not to be confused with the Gran Zebru, in the background of this shot.

The previous day's storm had put down a lot of fresh snow!

Arriving at the col, we can see the wind has been at work through here.

The snow was a little bit dense on this side, but lots of fun, and plenty of it.

We had this place all to ourselves.

Wade making it look good.

And John's not hating it either!

A wonderful backyard run.

Reilly making an impression.

As always, what goes down must climb back up. Starting back up toward a second pass.

The weather could not have been any better.

Looking down a remote valley behind Ortler peak.

Mark put in a good day's work laying in the track through deep snow!

Back at the ridge crest, we followed the airy crest of the ridge up Cima Zebru.

Windless, calm, and very scenic indeed.

Skiing off the summit was a dream!

Great snow all the way down!

Back in the Pizzini hut, dinner is served.

Our last day dawned clear and sunny once more.

Climbing back up over the ridge toward the Cassati hut.

Mark and a couple of the group took in Pasquale. Lenticular clouds forming over Cevedale.

Meanwhile, back with Kathy and the rest of the crew, the boot crampons come out of the pack.

While Mark and Co. skin up toward Pasquale.

Nice snow conditions on the descent of the Cedec glacier! While Kathy and crew battled high winds on Cima di Solda, and did not take any more photos—too busy getting home. But what a great trip it turned out to be. Thanks to all the crew for making it such a fun and successful week.