Piz Julier 3380m

Piz Julier is the highest peak between Piz Platta and Piz Kesch and, like the two former peaks, it can be seen from almost every corner in Oberengadin. Its sheer and off-putting rock faces dropping almost 1000m convey immediate respect and at first sight this mountain seems accessible only to rock-climbers. Surprisingly, there is a well marked and secured, albeit very exposed, alpine trail to the summit. This route had been on my mind for many years and had to be patiently postponed several times; now our time had come.

Da anni voglio fare Il Piz Julier. A prima vista una montagna per soli climbers, offre invece un sentiero attrezzato ed a tratti molto esposto fino in vetta. Dopo la paziente attesa, il momento era venuto!

So we set off at the parking at Alp Guglia at 7.45am and after 5min the path becomes immediately very steep up a sandy slope. The light and scenery are mystical and we are absolutely alone on the mountain. Across alpine meadows and a boulderfield we get to Fuorcla Albana 2870m (1h50min). Now we see the rocky ridge and at first it is really hard to imagine that one can move up safely without ropes. The weather is still fine, with loads of fog and clouds stopping magically at the ridge, but there is no time to rest. We engage on the ridge following the clever route which is very well marked (bluewhiteblue) and follows pretty much the highest point skirting difficulties left or right. In some places the exposure is considerable with > 400m vertical drops on both sides but, due to the very heavy protection with chains and cables (sometimes too much we find), there are no tricky sections and the difficulty does not go beyond T5-. Pure hikers beware: hands will come out of your pocket here and used for holding on rock or chains or to stabilise during steep sections. The ridge is more than 1.5 km long and what at first looks like the summit is only the fore summit. After 1h.40min from the pass we reach the summit. It is very cloudy and light snow sets in, as expected the weather is worsening. So after 10 minutes we start our descent. After 1h20m we reach the pass again, the weather has now settled temporarily and we take a longer break. With the exception of only 2x2 other hikers which we crossed during our descent, we had the mountain to ourselves! We go back down to the car and rain starts again. Not ideal for those who banked on the afternoon weather window and once more.. earlier is better! We conclude at the Julier Hospiz with 2x 0.5L Rivella :)   A fantastic voyage into the rocky alpine world and concomitantly the first serious outing with my cousin! Thanks Beni, it's been great!

In una giornata, viste le previsioni, un po' risicata lungo la cresta alpina principale, con la roccia umida dalla nebbia ed uno spruzzo di neve in alto, il meteo finalmente per nostra fortuna 'ha tenuto'. Un viaggio in un mondo austero di roccia ed esposizione, reso ancor piu' interessante dalle molte nuvole 'vedi ma non-vedi'. Si tratta di un giro consigliabile a chi ama le 'passeggiate ++', una via marcata ed attrezzata praticamente da cima a fondo (ma non una ferrata!) e quindi accessibile a chi ha il passo sicuro e niente vertigini. Malgrado queste 'agevolazioni' non da sottovalutare data la forte esposizione e da sconsiglare vivamente in caso di neve, pioggia, densa nebbia o temporali. Su in 3h.30min e giu in 3.10h, con 20min di pausa per un totale di 7 ore. Un gran bel giro ed una prima con mio cugino: grazie Beni!