SOTA activation of IS0/IS-018 Monte Novo San Giovanni May 2025

 Pleasant walk and a final climb up steps to the Shack in the Sky!

I was hoping to park very close to the summit as shown on Open Topo maps (blue P below) and just walk up the steps, but put too much faith in Google Maps, searching for "Monte Novo San Giovanni" and ending up at a skiing hotel.  I drove beyond the hotel, along a track for several km to get as close as possible, and parked at point X below:

 I walked the route marked with arrows, starting with a gentle contour path.  The mountain came into view and it looked very high and a little daunting:

 After a gentle incline I arrived at a gate leading to some steps ascending the mountain side:

 After a short climb up the stone steps, I emerged at the summit towards a mountaiun hut (the shack in the sky!).  Again the wind was strong, but with many fence posts to attach my pole on the sunny side (15:00 Z) I felt that the wind would not be a problem.

However, while the pole stayed up, the gusty wind kept blowing the antenna centre up and off the pole!  I decided to move the pole to the other side of the shack, out of the wind, the side I had approached the shack from (shaded) and only partially extended the pole, attaching the dipole to opposite fence posts.

 I then set up a nice operating position on the outside seats in the sun.  If the weather was too bad I could have operated inside the shack as it was not locked.

 I had 7 QSOs on 20m, SSB, including 1 S2S, 6 on 40m including 1 S2S and 2 on 15m, including 1 S2S.  All 3 S2S QSOs were with Julian, IN3JIP/ISO who was also operating on Sardinia and we had arranged to liaise on S2S QSOs.  He was on IS0/IS-045

That was my final of 10 activations on Sardinia, I wish I had had more time, but thoroughly recommended for activators as the island has many straightforward 8 and 10 point summits.

 

SOTA activation of IS0/IS-007 Punta Corassi May 2025

 Straightforward climb to summit after a challenging drive

The summit is accessed from the town on Uliana via a long and winding concrete/clay road.  I had hoped to reach the car park closest to the summit shown on the map below (Right hand P), but this is only accessible by 4x4s.  I got as far as the mid point shown by the blue dot, in a small family car where there is a large space to tuck a car away from the road.  Beyond that point the road became even narrower with a sheer drop on the right, the surface made up of loose pebble which my car struggled to grip to.  I ended up reversing back down extremely slowly (and slipping slightly!) to park where shown.

 Parking somewhere between the Left hand P and my blue dot should be ok for most small cars.

 

The walk to 007 starts at the right had P and is well signposted. It starts running gently across towards the summit before rising fairly steeply through rocky terrain

The wind was my biggest challenge and the temperature dropped significantly with wind chill as I ascended.  I increasingly wrapped up but I saw many other hikers in organised groups that were still in shorts/T shirts and looking very cold!

The cloud had burned off by the time I arrived at the summit but the wind persisted.  Clouds were moving rapidly, a reminder of how quickly the weather on summits can change.

I attached my Sotapole to a rock with bungees and just raised it to prop up the dipole centre as much as the wind would allow, restraining it against the wind.  I chose a spot to sit slightly out of the wind and tuned up for 20m.  I enjoyed 28 SSB QSOs, including a call from Julian IN3JIB/ISO from his car, between his summits.  

I returned to the car for the return journey, hoping I wouldn't meet any vehicles coming up the narrow track!

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