In reply to deacondeacon:
How about the South Ridge on the Salbitschen (just North of Andermatt)? It's supposed to be a fantastic long VS and starts fairly near to a hut. Might be a bit busy for your taste but many 3 star routes will be.
Or do something on the slabs at La Berade ?
There's an excellent 450m VS/HVS on the NW Ridge of the Cima della Madonna, in the Dolomites. Two friends did it twenty years ago and were well chuffed with it.
I've been to the bottom of the N ridge of the Badile and it looks excellent. Belays every 30m apparently, However, getting there will be a bit of a faff, after the trails to it from Bondo were closed, following the massive rockfall on the Cengalo last August. Might be better to do that in a year or two, once a new trail has been established.
Although thinking about it, if you haven't done big long routes before, you may want routes which aren't too difficult to follow (navigation wise) and aren't too difficult to get off, once you're at the top. It ain't going to much fun celebrating your big 4 0 while shivering the night away on a ledge half way down !
My mate Christian wanted to celebrate his big 4 0 in the Time Machine passage in a cave in S. Wales (Ogof Daren Cilau). That was a bit of an epic because we had all told our partners that it was just a five hour trip. It was actually 5 hrs each way! We did enjoy the bubbly in teh Time Machibe though. I hope your birthday trip is as memorable !
Post edited at 00:08