The Stone Man & The Devil’s Pitchfork

Cima della Negra has a friend: Uomo di Sasso or the Stone Man. He can be seen on her right, likewise lying face up as though in a meadow, contemplating the heavens. The Stone Man has a prominent chin, and I like to think he looks like Eustace from 'Courage the Cowardly Dog'. To his right is Pizzo Forca or Pitchfork Peak, named after the jagged ridge leading up to its summit. It's quite a forbidding mountain, and our neighbors claim the pitchfork belongs to 'il diavolo'.

The trail directly behind our cabin takes you up through the woods to what's referred to as an 'alp' here in Switzerland, which is 'an area of green pasture on a mountainside'. This particular one sits at around 1600m and is called Premesti [prɛ-mɪʃ-tɛ] in dialect. Cows, goats, donkeys, and even horses graze there, where a cluster of cabins huddle together against the wind. Once, my father snowshoed up to the alp during winter, only to find a herd of goats trapped there due to the snow. Without water, they were thirsty; no sooner had he opened his water bottle than they rushed him, forcing him to quickly throw it away, lest they put their horns to use.

Upon Premesti, you have a fantastic view of the aforementioned three peaks. Turning north-west, your gaze falls upon Prato D'oro or the Golden Meadow, an alp so named because the sun always shines upon it. Behind it rises the Sosto, which is probably the most iconic mountain of Valle di Blenio. I always thought it looked like the shapely head of a quartz crystal. It is suspected that its name comes from 'sostare', meaning shelter.

My nonno's roots lie in Campo Blenio. Our family name, Ferretti, is derived from 'ferrum' in Latin, suggesting that my ancestors might have been blacksmiths. Why am I not surprised?