finnlabs mountaineering - Piz Bernina and the Bianco Ridge

On August 23rd 2009 three finnlabs colleagues aimed high – and climbed the Piz Bernina (4049m) from the legendary white northern Bianco Ridge. Piz Bernina is the highest summit in the Engadin region and lies close to the resorts of St. Moritz and Pontresina. It is one of the few isolated 4000m peaks in the Alps. The Bianco Ridge is surely the most famous route to the summit being more difficult and more exposed than the “normal” route.

“View on Piz Bernina with Bianco Ridge.”

Meeting in Pontresina

“We began our tour in Pontresina, heading out for several days of hiking and climbing sitting in the back of a horse carriage with an all-blonde cockpit. Enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery, we had a rather easy-going start. We got off at the Hotel Roseg and finally started hiking up to Chamanna da Tschierva (2583m) which was to be our home for the night. Sitting on the hut’s terrace for lunch, we looked up to the beautiful Bianco Rige with anticipation, making plans for the next day over a glass of wine before heading to bed.

Climbing Piz Bernina

The alarm rang at 2:45. After a brief breakfast and a last check of our equipment we started in three groups using our headlamps to find our way through stony passages until the first morning light rose. After an easy hike in order to wake up this early, we crossed a small glacier before starting to climb up to the Fuorcla Prievlusa where we could grasp a first sight onto the white ridge. When finally reaching the col, we were awarded by early sunlight and a spectacular view onto Morteratsch Glacier and Piz Palü. We continued to climb up the last meters before reaching the flank of the Bianco Ridge. After hanging in the icy flank for some memorable moments, we finally reached the beautiful ridge and started to climb up the stairway to heaven.

“Truely, a stairway to heaven…”

“Hanging in the ice flank.”

“On the ridge.”

At the end of the snow covered ridge we reached Piz Bianco (3995m) before continuing to climb the last challenging and quite exposed part up to Piz Bernina (4048m). The view from the peak was clear and we managed to enjoy several minutes by ourselves, before fellow Italian mountaineers caught up. Some of us started planning the descent with “anticipation” while some just rested and enjoyed the peaceful silence, but all of us were amazed by the view and the luck we had with the weather. Crossing a “slackline” at 4000m was surely an experience, when we started our descent along the exposed Spalla Ridge. We reached the Rifugio Marco e Rosa (3609m) under a warm afternoon sun and started celebrating our hike with a beautiful view from the hut’s terrace. After enjoying delicious meal, we concluded the evening with a bottle of red wine to commemorate our first peak higher than 4000m.

“Slackline experience at 4000m!”

“Abseiling on the way back.”

Returning to Pontresina

We started our hike back to Pontresina before sunrise, across the glaciers to the Bellavista Terrace. Enjoying the beautiful view back to Piz Bernina and across the glacier reflecting the first sunrays we blissfully continued our hike. We happily carried on, crossing the Fortezza Ridge and the Pers Glacier. After a joyful final spurt up to the Diavolezza Hut we finally reached the end point of our tour. Even the amazingly uncourteous host at the Diavolezza Hut was not able to taint the amazing atmosphere given the incredibly beautiful view back. A comfy train ride back to Pontresina was the end of this unforgettable weekend.”

“Morning mood on the Bellavista Terrace with view on the Ortler massif.”