Tschima da Flix W (3301 m) from Chamanna Jenatsch CAS to Julierpasss

A group of other four friends and I decided to plan for a 2-day ski tour in the Albula alps, booking an overnight stay at Chamanna Jenatsch SAC for Saturday 15 (Feb 2025). It seems that stays at the hut, especially during the weekend, are particularly coveted. The hut was essentially full, this was their first day of opening for the Winter season, and the choice of the day was essentially given by the remaining availability at the time of booking.

On the day prior (Saturday) we skied from Julierpass to Chamanna Jentasch SAC via Piz Surgonda. This report is about Sunday, when we skied to Tschima da Flix and then back to Julierpass.

We started skiing up from the hut in the NW direction, the valley used to be filled by the Calderas glacier but nowadays we won't find some ice until past 3000 m of altitude. It was a sunny day, a light wind at the start, cold temperature (~ -12 C). Avalanche risk 2. We follow the tracks of another group who's skiing up in the direction of Piz Calderas, half an hour or so ahead of us. Aside from them, and another group who skied down the day prior, no other tracks are visible on the snow.

The route up follows the moraine of the Calderas glacier. At elevation 2950m the direct route becomes a bit steeper and it seems sensible to take a detour SE, then W, no particular challenges. The final climb to the ridge (3100 m to 3260 m) is a bit steeper (up to 35 deg). The snow there gets quite icy, and I enjoyed mounting ski crampons to avoid slipping. We're making our own track, it seems no one has been skiing up this side of the mountain since the last snowfall.

We reach the crest and we are welcomed by a breathtaking view on the entire region. The wind is very strong and cold, and this will remain true for the rest of the day. The strong wind is sweeping quite a lot of snow from the crest and the higher part of the mountains, leaving many rocks surfacing from the snow. Something we'll have to pay attention on our way down.

We mounted our skis on our backpacks and started walking in the direction of the West summit of Tschima da Flix (the East summit is 10 meters higher, but in the wrong direction w.r.t. the continuation of our tour). Boot crampons and ice axe were definitely helpful on the crest, where the snow was very icy and slippery with normal boots. After reaching the summit, we continued hiking down in the direction of Fuorcla da Flix. If the snow were more abundant we could have skied this stretch, as the western side of the ridge is not particularly steep. However, as I mentioned before, there was little snow and a lot of surfacing rocks. A few hundred meters before the Fuorcla da Flix we put our skis on and started descending towards Fuorcla d'Agnel.

Avoiding rocks was a constant theme during the descent. There is a little depression around 3000m of elevation, which is easier to avoid on the northern side. Then, for the rest of the descent, try to maintain your elevation by traversing along the south slope of Piz d'Agnel. We put our skins on at 2870 m, then aiming at the main tracks skiing up the Fuorcla d'Agnel. Finally, we ski down the entire Val d'Agnel. We are mindful not to loose to much elevation here, as the valley is not particularly steep, and we're quite tired by the two days of skiing.

Overall, we enjoyed fantastic views and pristine conditions. The hike on the ridge turned out to be a bit tiring, equipment was beneficial for safety. When skiing down, snow was mainly crud, especially in Val d'Agnel. Not great, not terrible.