This winter really did not want to end...and the tail of this winter seems to be even longer. Luckily, last weekend a window of good weather was finally showing up in Switzerland, especially in my favorite canton, Engadin. The plan this time is to summit the famous Piz Buin. The idea of trying this summit is not totally new for me, but in past I could not try because of bad weather or missing climbing partner. This time everything seems to be there, good weather and climbing partner. Only thing missing is the hut warden, but this is not really a problem since the winter room is always open.
Another small issue is that I have to run the third stretch of the SOLA staffette in Zürich. However, the approach to the hut from the train station takes only 3 hours and there is enough time to do this even leaving from Baden at 13:08.
Once arrived in Guarda, one really nice little village of Engadin, we are welcomed by a moderate rain...and I always thought that the sun is always shining here. Anyway, it does not rain that much and walking is not a problem. Approximately half an hour after leaving the village, the rain stops and the wind picks up...which is much better for hiking.
Around 18:30 we finally reach the hut and start preparing dinner. Some crevasse rescue "practice", checking of the equipment, chit chat, and at 22:00 we are in bed, hoping to get some good weather the following day.
For once the weather forecasts were really accurate and in the morning the sky is totally clear and the wind has reduced to a pleasant breeze. We hurry up through breakfast and preparation since we don't want to loose too much time...the forecasts in fact are predicting some rain and/or snow in the afternoon. Since we were the only two people at the hut we leave everything we don't necessarily need for the climb and there we go.
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| View towards the valley |
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| Our goal of today...the one to the right of course |
Going down from the hut we cross the river and start heading up to Cronsel. Having the hut in the back we stay to the left of Cronsel, zig zagging up in the nicely frozen snow. This avoid the use of snowshoes. When the altitude of 2600m is reached we start heading north to get to the bottom of the couloir that comes down from the Fuorcla Buin.
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| The couloir up to the Fuorcla Buin |
At the bottom of the couloir we realize that the snow is not nicely frozen and hard everywhere...and the sinking starts. Going up the couloir things are getting even worse and sometimes we even sink down to the waist. It's really not easy to find hard snow. We try to follow the debris left by the various small avalanches but this is not always work. After what seems an eternity...something like walking on a treadmill, we finally reach the top of the couloir and the Fuorcla Buin.
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| On the top of the couloir |
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| View of the face from the Fuorcla Buin |
From here the technical climb starts, hence we rope up! Also, since it is surprisingly cold, we also put some more clothes on. An overview of the route is given in this picture. In red are the "walking" bits and in green the more "climbing" parts.
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| Overview of the route. The staring point to the right (Fuorcla Buin) is hidden. |
With the conditions we had there was no real climbing, except maybe for the first climbing section. However, the route from the Fuorcla goes all across the face directly on the ridge. From this point it just follows the ridge. At the beginning of the first climbing part (first green line) there is a bolt on the left (looking towards the summit). This can be useful in case the first climber falls, but this should not happens as it is a technically easy climb.
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| View downwards from the first climbing section |
After this part there is another walking section before the most technical part of the climb, second green line. Here the route traverses to the left until a small gully is reached and then goes straight up. Along this climbing section there are three bolts, highlighted in the previous picture with the letters A, B and C. The following three pictures are showing the three bolts. First one is a closeup of the first bolt, that in reality is an old peg. Second and third show my climbing partner standing right next (more or less) to the bolts.
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Close up of the first bolt (peg) - A
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| My climbing partner...oh, by the way, his name is Kane, standing next to the second bolt - B |
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| Kane standing next to the last bolt - C with me on the exit of the gully |
With these three safety points the climb is relatively safe. However, between bolt B and the entrance of the gully it is a bit exposed. From the exit of the gully the route becomes a really easy zig zag all the way to the summit...and there we stood! The only two people today on the summit of Piz Buin! We looked around and we could not see anyone else...nobody else except that one of the nature's best creation, the mountains! We could even see the magnificent Piz Palü and Piz Bernina with it's superfamous Biancograt.
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| Piz Palü and Piz Bernina |
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| Summit self shot...that's why they put crosses on the summit, so you can put your camera on them and take a picture! |
After taking some pictures, a summit self shot, and eating something we head back to the bottom of the face. Here we decide to take a different way back passing by the Fuorcla dal Cunfin. The glacier can be walked still with the crampons since luckily the snow is still hard enough that we don't sink. Once the Fuorcla dal Cunfin is reached we go back into Switzerland. Keeping close to the rock face to not loose too much height we head to the Plan Mezdi and from here down again to the hut.
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| The sing post marking the border between Switzerland and Austria |
From the Fuorcla onwards the snow conditions deteriorated very rapidly and the sinking became worse and worse. Luckily we took our snowshoes with us and we can take advantage of some floatation. Once the height of Cronsel is reached again is just a long plod/slide/head in the snow, run to the hut. After a drink and some rest, we pack everything and head back to the valley...happy about the day and already looking forward to a great summer mountaineering season!
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| Last view of Piz Buin |
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| Going back.... |
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