Sump To Summit

We had a solid distance to cover today—11km—so an efficient morning was key. We left the hut before 8, skinning as the sun rose over the mountains. The traverse was incredible, taking us around the South East Piz Jenatsch ridge and eventually up to the ridge leading to Laviner. A big group was about to head up the optional climbing section, so we skipped the final 40m to the summit and went straight into the best part—the descent.

We started with a seriously technical section, which was a brutal way to warm up the legs for downhill skiing. But how amazing is it to have a group of mates who can just do this? The descent North East to Preda was magical. Sun-kissed powder felt like skiing through silk. Looking left and right as I ski, seeing everyone carving down the mountain, completely free—there’s no feeling like it. We kept stopping to regroup and pick the next line, and before long, we hit the treeline.

From there, we crossed the river and stuck to the left side of the valley. The lower section had been heavily skied, so it was icy and narrow in places, but we all made it down with little incident—Barney was a star. We reached the train station with 15 minutes to spare and caught a train to Zous. Once there, we had to take a free bus to the ski lift.

While Barney and El nipped into the Coop for snacks, the bus arrived. Chris and I slowly loaded the skis while Hannah radioed them inside.
“Bus! Bus! Bus!”
“Repeat?” Barney replied.
“Leg it!” was Hannah’s response.

The bus then circled the town, stopping exactly where we’d just been, before finally taking us where we needed to go. We bought lift passes and stopped for chips and hot chocolate after the first lift. Then we took the Muntatsch lift up to 2449m, where Chris had a Chriscursion planned—an ascent to Pizzet Peak (2910m). Chris and Barney somehow convinced me to join them, while El and Hannah took the usual route to the hut.

We made excellent time to the summit. From the top, we spotted El and Hannah below, their long shadows stretching across the snow at golden hour, like camels crossing the desert. From there, Chris, Barney, and I skied down to the Pizzet-Piz Viroula col, where we got to enjoy some truly incredible powder. We reskinned and climbed up to the Piz Belvair Col, which would lead us down to the hut.

El radioed through to point out a gully we should take—absolute heaven. A natural half-pipe funneled us down the mountain, where we all regrouped and made our way to the Chamanna D’Es-Cha Hut. What a day. One of those where you just feel so lucky to be alive.