UKH

Just seen a post on Facebook that the fourche bivouac is now in pieces on the brenva glacier.

This seems pretty crazy… even in the current context of the MB massif falling down. The post was translated from an original in French, so has something been lost in translation? Is it an out of season April fool?

Just wondered if anyone has any beta on this?

Also reported by the Italian Academic Alpine Club, who keep a list of bivouac huts.

https://www.clubalpinoaccademico.it/index.php/chi-siamo-2/bivacchi-2/item/1...

Some happy memories of the place

Luca Signorelli says it isn't confirmed yet. I guess it won't be too difficult to confirm  though.

That's a shame. I have only been there two or three times and it had spectacular views of the Brenva face. It looked as though it was built on rock foundations on the crest of the ridge. I presume the foundations were compromised if the ice holding it all together melted.

These days all you need is a drone and about 20 minute's of spare time to check on something like this.

20 minutes? You're forgetting the time to go to the boulangerie/panificio to get breakfast, go to the café for a cappuccino, chat to the lift operator, have a cigarette and an espresso... 

A photo of what's left:

https://www.gazzettamatin.com/2022/08/26/crollo-bivacco-alberico-borgna/

Wow! That’s a big collapse!

Thanks for confirming. 

Amazing that in the middle of August that there was no one in it. Or was there?

Would be interesting to see a current photo of where the hut used to be. That is, to see the details of the rockfall.

Great pity anyway. However, very lucky that nobody is reported hurt.

What a screwed-up year.

PGHM checked and said no one was there. I guess with conditions as they’ve been lately people have been avoiding a lot of the usual classic routes/areas. 

Tragic. 

You can see this in the video at

https://explorersweb.com/the-crumbling-alps-now-the-bivouac-de-la-fourche-h....

Look about 4 seconds in, and compare it with the still shot at the top of the same article. The viewing angle is not exactly the same in each, but some particular rock features are recognisable.

How dessicated that whole ridge area looks. No snow at all.