During the months of September and October 1943, many allied Servicemen, who had escaped from Prisoner of War Camps such as the ones near Vercelli, used this route to reach the summit of Mont Moro, a mountain bordering Switzerland which had been free of snow all summer. Some were lucky enough to meet members of the resistance and were taken by car, to villages north of  the city of Biella, where they could climb into the mountains to reduce the risk of capture for the remainder of their journey. German and Facist patrols were already out looking for these escapers in the mountain valley floor and by December 1943 a garrison of over 300 German soldiers was established in the Macugnaga valley, below Mont Moro. 

The escapers had to sleep rough. If they were lucky perhaps in a remote farm hayloft.. Decending to cross valley's on route, the Pp.o.w's would sometimes see posters in villages, offereing rewards for the capture of escapees. The pressure was on to make good an escape.

There was still support from local peasants (known as Contadini) who would, if they had food to spare, offer a basic meal of pasta or potato which they could pay for by offering  soap and coffee from Red Cross parcels they were carrying.