Piz Kesch ( German) or Piz d'Es-cha ( Rumantsch) is a peak in the

Albula Alps The Albula Alps are a mountain range in the Alps of eastern Switzerland. They are considered to be part of the Central Eastern Alps, more specifically the Western Rhaetian Alps. They are named after the river Albula. According to AVE (see map), t ...

of the

Rhaetian Alps The Rhaetian Alps ( it, Alpi Retiche; german: Rätische Alpen) are a mountain range of the Eastern Alps. The SOIUSA classification system divides them into the Western and Eastern Rhaetian Alps, while the Alpine Club classification of the Easte ...

in Switzerland. At , it is the highest peak in the Albula Alps and the municipality of Bergün,

Grisons The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label=Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cantu ...

. The first ascent was made 1846 by J. Coaz, J. Rascher, C. Casper and J. Tscharner.

Geography

Piz Kesch is part of the mountain ridge which divides the southeastern

Swiss Alps The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swis ...

between the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sour ...

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

(

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegia ...

) and the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

drainage basin ( Black Sea). It is also the highest peak in the Eastern Alps north of the

Inn River , image = UnterinntalWest.JPG , image_caption = Lower Inn valley from Rattenberg castle , source1_location = Swiss Alps ( Lägh dal Lunghin) , source1_elevation = , source1_coordinates= , mouth_location = Danube (Passau) , m ...

. On the north side lies the Porchabella Glacier. Piz Kesch HQ

West of Piz Kesch lies the Albula Pass (''Pass d'Alvra'' in Rumantsch); to the north lies the valley of

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

, and to the south lies the

Upper Engadine The Engadin or Engadine ( rm, ;This is the name in the two Romansh idioms that are spoken in the Engadin, Vallader and Puter, as well as in Sursilvan and Rumantsch Grischun. In Surmiran, the name is ''Nagiadegna'', and in Sutsilvan, it is ...

. On the foot of Piz Kesch in the Engadine lies the village of

Madulain Madulain () is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Madulain is first mentioned around 1137-39 as ''Madulene''. Guardaval Castle was built near the village of Madulain in the 13th century to administ ...

(1,694 m). Two SAC's alpine huts lie close to Piz Kesch which are the ''Chamanna d'Es-Cha'' or ''Es-Cha Hütte'' (''ca'' 2,594 m), and the ''Kesch-Hütte'' or ''Chamanna digl Kesch'' at (''ca'' 2,625 m). The first lies on a 3-hour walk from

La Punt La Punt Chamues-ch (; it, label=Italian and official name until 1943, Ponte-Campovasto) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History La Punt Chamues-ch is first mentioned around 1137-39 as ''Campolovasto''. ...

and

Zuoz Zuoz () is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Zuoz is first mentioned about 840 as ''Zuzes''. Historically, Zuoz was the political center of the upper Engadin. It was the seat of the local bishop. B ...

and about 1½

hour An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time conventionally reckoned as of a day and scientifically reckoned between 3,599 and 3,601 seconds, depending on the speed of Earth's rotation. There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hou ...

s from the Albula Pass road. Kesch-Hütte lies 4½ hours from Bergün and can be reached as well from the

southern valleys of

Sertig The Sertig Valley is located in the municipality of Davos, south of the town, in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It is a lateral valley of the Landwasser The Landwasser is a river in Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. Its origin was Lake Dav ...

and Dischma or by a longer walk via Val Susauna coming from Cinuos-chel.

Climbing history

The tower-like peak of Piz Kesch was reached for the first time on September 7, 1846, by Chr. Casper, Johann Coaz, J. Rascher, J.R. Tscharner. In 1864 the ascent was repeated by

Francis Fox Tuckett Francis Fox Tuckett FRGS (10 February 1834 – 20 June 1913)D.W.F., 'Obituary: Francis Fox Tuckett' in ''The Geographical Journal'', Vol. 42, No. 2 (August 1913), pp. 206–207 was an English mountaineer. He was vice-president of the Alpine Club ...

and Fowler, with guides C. Michel and M. Payot. From the Platzli huts, located above Bergün, they reached in 3 hours a pass (3,008 m) on the ridge above the Vadret da Porchabella, overlooking the head of the Es-cha valley on the east. From this — called ''Porta d'Es-cha'' — they finally reached the peak in less than 2 hours. They afterwards descended in 3 hours from the pass to

on the east side of the mountain. According to Tuckett, they were the first to reach the highest summit: :"...we reached the summit of Piz Kesch without the slightest difficulty in 1 hour 10 m. (45 m. over snow and 25 m. up very steep but good rocks). On a second summit to the SE., which a level showed to be slightly lower than where we stood, was planted a baton; but on our peak were no traces of any previous visit. M. Coaz, I was told, had ascended Piz Kesch a few years ago, so that probably he climbed the second peak by mistake."

Hiking

A network of marked mountain paths leads to the southern, western and northern face of Piz Kesch whereas the eastern face is covered with a glacier and connected with the rest of this

massif In geology, a massif ( or ) is a section of a planet's crust that is demarcated by faults or flexures. In the movement of the crust, a massif tends to retain its internal structure while being displaced as a whole. The term also refers to a ...

thus not accessible on hiking trails. The "''Kesch-Trek''"Hiking Switzerland, Graubünden; Kesch Trek on Graubünden Ferien (official Tourism Board)(partly german)
/ref> leads from Dischma via the Scaletta pass towards the southwest and to the Kesch-. In the following leg the route passes the western face and reaches Chamanna d'Es-Cha hut via ''Fuorcla Pischa'', lying already in the southern face of Piz Kesch.

Panorama

References

External links