Ice Falls, a winter wonderland
The mountains in winter have a very special charm and the ice falls offer an extraordinary spectacle, a gift of low temperatures. Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga contain many of these treasures, even if sometimes in places that are not exactly accessible.
Ice waterfalls form between 1,000 and 2,500 metres above sea level where low temperatures lead to the freezing of rainwater or springs, but also of the rivulets formed by melting snow.
This creates these magnificent ice sculptures with an incredible variety of shapes and shades of colour. Because ice is not always the same: almost transparent and bluish when it is hard and compact, whitish on the surface if it is exposed to the sun or greyish if it is melting.
Among the many waterfalls in the mountains of Abruzzo is La cascata del Peccato (The Sin Waterfall) on the Gran Sasso near Monte Prati.
It is located in a valley that is difficult to access and has long been a challenge for mountaineers, who have repeatedly measured themselves against the columns, walls and jumps of the historic waterfall, but without success until, on 10 February 1992, Claudio Arbore made the first absolute ascent secured by Pierpaolo Ciocca.
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