Passhöreli - Keschhütte - P. 3040 - Grialetschhütte

Day 1
Sertig Sand - Sertigpass - Passhöreli - Keschhütte
1350m ascent, 600m descent, 7h (very relaxed pace), PD-

We keep a relaxed pace up the Chüealptal from Sertig Sand towards the Sertigpass. We observe two chamois trekking across the snow and get jealous of some skiers in descent, who are obviously enjoying themselves in excellent snow. The steepness briefly goes above 30° around P. 2523 as well as just below the pass. No problem at all in today's conditions.

On the other side of the pass, we head towards the Passhöreli. With just 225m of additional ascent, it would be a shame not to include this summit. The steep final 25m below the summit are best completed on foot. No scrambling is involved as there is a good snow cover all the way to the summit.

The south-west facing slopes of the Passhöreli have seen a little too much sunshine, but the descent is still enjoyable. We're fairly tired at this point, so we are quite glad when we finally arrive at the Keschhütte after another 250m of uphill.

Day 2
Keschhütte - P. 3040 - Scalettapass - Grialetschhütte
1250m ascent - 1350m descent, 8h (very relaxed pace), PD-

The clocks have changed to daylight savings time, which means the sun rises an hour later today. However, we linger long enough at the breakfast table until there is a decent amount of sunshine on our (west-facing) ascent route towards P. 3040. A trail has been broken until the saddle at P. 2943, but not yet from the saddle to the summit. We reach the summit plateau on foot along the NNW ridge. This snowy ridge is fairly exposed for some 20m. After the ridge, we cross the wide summit plateau to the huge cairn (hidden when approaching from the north, but clearly visible e.g. from the Keschhütte) which stands where narrow ridge towards Piz Porchabella begins.

Though the avalanche risk is down to "moderate" today, the warden of the Keschhütte has still advised us against the direct northerly descent route into Val Furtauna. Hence we descend towards the Keschhütte again. Unfortunately, the snow below the saddle at P. 2943 has a horrible non-supportive crust. The situation improves as we take a northwesterly course into the Val dal Tschüvel. Turning into the Val Furtauna, the terrain gets flatter (100m of descent over 2km), so the poles are needed to make any progress towards the Alp Furtauna.

The 400m of ascent to the Scalettapass are straight-forward. The snow level has reached the roof of the shelter on the pass; we cannot even see on which side we would have to dig out the entrance! The descent on the northern side of the pass offers some good snow. At the 2500m contour, make sure to traverse towards the north-east (consider avalanche danger!) until the slopes become less steep again.

Around the 2200m contour, we traverse towards the Dischma-Grialetschhütte ascent, which is marked with signposts. It's still sunny and warm enough to sit outside until dinner time; that's the advantage of daylight savings time. :)

Day 3
Grialetschhütte - Dürrboden - Teufi
850m descent, 2h, F

After having been blessed with perfect weather for two days, our luck has run out. The visibility today is worse than expected and it is snowing lightly. It makes little sense to aim for a summit today. The idea of heading towards the Fuorcla Radönt is also quickly abandoned, as some uninviting avalanche debris is spread across this route. The remaining option is a direct descent into the Dischma valley. The snow between the hut and Dürrboden is mostly frozen hard and not very pleasant to ski down. From Dürrboden to Teufi, there is only 300m of descent over a distance of 7km. The fresh snow is rather sticky, so our progress is especially slow and tiring for the arms. We have just missed the bus, but the Teufi restaurant is a pleasant place to wait for the next one.

This last day did not add much to our experience, but who could complain after two days of perfect weather and amazing views, and two nights in spectacularly located huts!