Ski touring in the Silvretta Alps
In the Eastern corner of Switzerland, straddling both the Austrian and Italian borders, the Silvretta Alps are a beautiful group of mountains ideally suited to intermediate level ski touring. Utilizing the network of Austrian, Swiss and Italian huts there are many ski touring opportunities, best started from either Galtur on the Austrian side, or from Klosters in Switzerland.
Book: Alpine Ski Mountaineering: Eastern Alps v. 2: Central and Eastern Alps (Cicerone Winter and Ski Mountaineering) by Bill O'Connor
Maps: 1:25000 Landeskarte der Schweiz Number 1198 Silvretta and Number 1178 Gross Litzner.
Huts: It is recommended that you book huts in advance. Contact details can be found from our useful links section
Trip report by Greig Scott
We chose to start our five day tour from the chic ski resort town of Klosters. This tour is a well worthwhile adventure for intermediate skiers wanting to venture further into the backcountry and do some hut touring. As in all other multi day hut tours, however, experience in navigating in the high mountains and a detailed knowledge of avalanche conditions and rescue are essential. So, if you don’t have that………. get a guide.
Day 1:
A short day that no-one craving the downhill will relish, a ‘straight off the train’ lung bursting ascent to our Day 1 objective, the beautifully located Silvretta Hutte. Start skinning straight from the road along snow covered forest tracks, then open ground which in summer would be pastures, then finally up glaciated terrain to Swiss Alpine Club’s Silvretta Hutte. It’s always tough the first day at altitude, so the tea and rosti on arrival was more than welcome.
Day 2:
Woke to stunning Alpine vistas. A wonderful day’s ski touring lies ahead. Skinning up the Silvretta Glacier is easy and steady, and the straightforward ascent of the Silvrettahorn takes us to our high point of the day at 3254m. Next comes a traverse over two cols the Egghornlucke and a craftily hidden col that gives access to Schneeglocken Glacier (and Ausria) and some lovely knee deep powder (difficult navigation in bad weather). The latter col, also marks the border between Switzerland, Austria and Italy. From here, it’s pretty much downhill all the way on fairly mellow angled, but crevassed terrain to the impressive Wiesbadner Hutte. Good food !!!
Day 3:
It’s back on the uphill straight away, slogging our way up the heavily crevassed Vermunt and Tiroler glaciers before traversing three cols, including the Grupe Kuppe and Ochsenshorte. Then it’s skins off for another long and deserved downhill to today’s objective, the Jamtal Hutte.
Day 4:
The tea and muesli are quickly burned off by yet another long uphill skin of the Jamtalferne glacier in ‘sketchy’ weather with poor visibility and snow showers. Soon we break through the cloud base into lovely sunshine, and ‘tick off’ ascents of the Gemspitz and Hinter Jamspitz. When we (finally) hit the downhill, on the Italian border again, it’s 18’’ of beautiful, untracked powder for 2000 wonderful vertical feet before the snow quickly changes to crust and then for the final swing into the Tuoi Hut, boilerplate snow ice! The entire descent was in the shadow of the impressive castellated ridge line of the Dreilanderspitz. The Tuoi hut is my personal favourite on this trip. It is relatively small and intimate, with a very welcoming guardian.
Day 5:
Our final day, and a hugely impressive day’s ski mountaineering at that. Any cobwebs from last nights Chianti, pasta and REAL coffee (don’t you just Italian huts) are quickly blown away by the relentless ascent of the approach slopes and summit climb of the principal ski touring peak in the area, the Piz Buin. We head straight for an obvious notch, the Verstanalator, acutely aware of the steep, avalanche prone slopes above us on either side as we approach. Now it’s time to take off our skins for the last time on this trip. From here on in it’s a long ride back through every imaginable snow condition and type of terrain to the ‘still skiable’ forest tracks and road above Klosters.
