Piz Lagrev skitour

Last weekend the plan was to go to St. Moritz to enjoy the nice ski resort. However, this was planned already last autumn (yes, you need that much time to reserve a youth hostel for 6 people :) )...and in the meanwhile I got into ski touring. Weather for the weekend looked absolutely incredible...far too good to just up and down on prepared pistes. That's why I decided to go on a ski tour. Close to St. Moritz there are loads of options but for some reason my choice falls on Piz Lagrev, a nice just above 3000m summit close to Silvaplana. 

Valley before the car park

First part of the ascent from the car park

First "jump" with rocks to the right

The official ski route starts along the road of the Julier Pass, which is open in winter but with no bus connection. Unfortunately me and my friend don't have a car so we have to ski all the way up from Silvaplana. This turned out to be the most difficult part of the tour. At the beginning there is not any snow on the road and on the summer foot path...so we have to walk. Finally we find some snow and we can put the skis on...but the fun does not last long. We find ourselves probably missing the path (somehow) and having to complete a really long traverse on the right side of the valley (having Silvaplan in the back). The traverse by itself would not be tricky, but considering the really icy snow and the rocks and the plant...things are not so easy as forecasted. In several occasions we actually have to literally walk on the grass with the skis. I'm sure my skins did not like that!

Finally, after 2 hours of approach, we reach the car park that is the official starting point of the ski tour. There is someone that like us has just started the climb...but this does not make me feel much better. I have the fear that is already late and that we won't probably make it to the real summit. In the meanwhile it got seriously hot, to the point that I did not have my gloves for even for a minute during the climb. And...oops, I also forgot the sun cream....

After the first jump - I

After the first jump - II

After the first jump - III

On the way up we finally find some shade that relieves us from the heat of the shining sun. Also the snows seems to be in much better conditions. The route simply follows the valley up to a first small plateau. Here, the route continues to the left, turning around and then above some shear rocks and ice. Probably this is the steepest part of the tour, not counting the one just below the summit. After this first "jump" the route continues to the right, slowly winding up to another plateau. From here it is possible to see the summit already and the hundreds of ski tracks of people that have summited Piz Lagrev during the week. 

Contouring around and around

...and around...

We take now a long round to the left, trying to keep the height instead of going down and then straight up again. This long round goes around the rock faces that are delimiting the valley and then joins the almost perfect slope that comes down from the summit. Here we start zig-zagging up to the top. Just before getting to the col there is one rather steep traverse (last zag of the zig-zag). This is however not a problem since lots of people have already made a good track before us. Once reached the col the summit is almost in sight. A few more turns and the summit is finally reached. To be honest, we reached only the ski summit...the official summit is still probably 1 hour away (there and back) along an almost flat ridge. However, it's already 12:45 and we decide that to avoid avalanche risk (wet avalanche) we are going to go back directly. Also, from the car park on the road down to Silvaplana we have no idea of how long it is going to take...so it's better to keep some time reserve. 

The summit!

People on the ridge, aiming to the middle summit

Views from the summit are magnificent. Sky is perfectly clear and there is absolutely no wind. I stay the whole time on the summit without gloves (even taking my skins off) and it feels really warm...maybe too warm. Surprisingly the summit is really crowded...especially of Italians. Some of them made it a bit further along the ridge but since none had ice axe or crampons nobody went to the real summit. We have all the equipment...but time has the last word and we have to go back. After a few pictures and the usual hand shaking we put the ski in ski mode and ski down. 

The descent is really good...powdery snow and hard only in small places. Unfortunately the fun ends when we reach the car park. At this point we have to follow the road back to Silvaplana. We try to follow the road on the side, always staying on the snow...but this snow is totally rotten, brown from the mud and surely not nice to ski. However, somehow, and after taking the skis off a couple of times...we manage to reach Silvaplana. Not a complete summit, but who cares...a perfect day on the ski!