Piz Forcellina (2938 m) - bike & hike from Bivio

Piz Forcellina (2938 m) is a mountain peak close to the Septimer pass. It is probably not visited very often, especially when compared to the neighboring peak Piz Turba.

Start of the hike shortly after 9:00 in Bivio. I brought my mountain bike along. Going uphill, I partially biked, and partially walked the bike. The road to the Septimer pass is paved for 1.5 km, the rest is unpaved but in good shape. It makes sense to go by bike, cause there are parts of the road which are nearly flat and a bit boring just to walk. At the Septimer pass, I parked the bike, and continued more or less on the white-red-white marked trail towards Forcellina. At elevation 2500 m, I left the marked trail and headed for the east ridge of Piz Forcellina.

On the east ridge at elevation 2700 m, there is a small 3 m rock tower and a small crack, where you may climb down into a couloir on the south side, and then back up to the ridge again. Or like I did on the way back, it is possible to climb over the small rock tower. Further up it becomes very steep and a little bit of climbing is frequently needed. It is best to always stay exactly on the ridge whenever possible.

At elevation 2800 the ridge becomes quite narrow and exposed for 20-30 meters. But it is not really a problem to pass across this "tilted rock wall" if you pay attention. After that comes a 20 m vertical wall on the ridge, and it is necessary to make a detour in the north flank which is about 45° steep. There are some path traces from animals. I found it best to traverse in the north flank with only a little bit of elevation gain, until I reached a not very distinct couloir. Here I went zigzag uphill until it became clearly steeper. Then I exited the couloir on the left hand side and climbed up the few remaining meters to get back on the ridge again. After that it continues fairly steep, but without problems.

At the summit there were already a couple of female ibex, who for sure did not expect human visitors. The ibex quickly disappeared in the south flank. I did not meet any other hikers at the summit nor on the east ridge. At some point humans have obviously been at the summit of Piz Forcellina, cause there are three cairns up there. One quite big cairn on the east side, one cairn at the highest point (built by ivo66 last year), and one broken or not finished cairn on the west side.

After enjoying my lunch at the summit I followed the same route back down to elevation 2600 m. After that I continued on the ridge in easterly direction for a while, before I headed back to the Septimer pass. There I got on my bike, and rode back down to Bivio.

Equipment:
- Hiking sticks (not used)
- Ice axe (not used)

Please see attached GPS track for more details on the route.