Piz Laviner (3137 m) - bike & hike from Tinizong

Piz Laviner (3137 m) is a peak which requires quite a long ascent/descent when you start from Tinizong or Savognin. But when making it a combination of bike & hike, it becomes much more manageable.

Start of the hike just above the village of Tinizong at elevation 1320 m. I followed the alp road in direction Alp d'Err, mostly walking the bike in the steeper sections. The road is paved up to Tgant Pensa. In Val d'Err I spotted numerous marmots, and some of the young marmots did not run and hide immediately. The unpaved alp road actually goes about 1 km past Alp d'Err, and therefore I could park my bike at elevation 2220 m.

When I started the hike, it was all sunny. Meanwhile clouds had moved in, and for 10-15 minutes the summits of Piz Laviner and Piz Jenatsch were halfway in the fog. For a short time, I feared that I would have to abort the mission. But a little bit later the sun came back again.

I ascended towards Fuorcla Laviner, first on grassy grounds, then scree and rocky grounds. In part it was quite a struggle because of all the loose scree. In the upper part I tried to stay left, where the rocks were bigger and more stable. But many of the rocks and boulders had very sharp edges, so caution was needed. It might be helpful to wear gloves. Overall rating: T3-T4

After reaching Fuorcla Laviner, I headed for the summit of Piz Laviner. The first rock tower was bypassed on the right hand side as described by others. After that I ascended to, and stayed on the SW ridge until the summit. It was quite steep, but rarely exposed. The rocks were mostly solid and provided excellent grips. On the way up I encountered 2-3 places which were climbing grade II, but an easier route was possible. Quite a bit of climbing grade I is needed though. Overall rating: T4+, I

Finally, after 5 h 25 min of biking & hiking I reached the summit of Piz Laviner, and the view was magnificent! The current summit book is now one year old, but it has only 11 entries (including mine).

For the descent, I chose the same way down to Fuorcla Laviner. Going back down into Val d'Err, I tried to surf on the scree wherever possible. There were no snowfields left in the NW flank.

When I reached my bike parking, it became clear that placing my bike on top of a big rock had been a good idea. I had parked it in a place where the cows would not step on it.

I did not meet any other hikers on or near Piz Laviner.

Total tour distance: 24.5 km, thereof:
- Hiking and biking uphill: 9 km (elevation gain: 900 m)
- Hiking: 6.5 km (elevation gain/loss: 900 m)
- Biking downhill: 9 km (elevation loss: 900 m)
Please see attached GPS track for more details.

Equipment:
- Hiking sticks