Piz Buin Pitschen (
Rumantsch) or Kleiner Piz Buin (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
) is a peak in the
Silvretta Alps
The Silvretta Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps shared by Tirol, Vorarlberg (both in Austria) and Graubünden (Switzerland). The Austrian states of Tirol and Vorarlberg are connected by a pass road (Silvretta Hochalpenstra ...
. The Piz Buin Pitschen lies western of his higher neighbor the
Piz Buin Grond or Großer Piz Buin.
The summit forms the border between
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
and
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and is the second highest peak in Vorarlberg, a state of Austria, and the sixth highest peak of the mountain range after the
Piz Linard
Piz Linard is a pyramid-shaped mountain of the Swiss Alps. At 3,410 m it is the highest peak of the Silvretta mountain range.
It was first climbed on August 1, 1835, by the geologist and naturalist Oswald Heer led by Johann Madutz.
There i ...
, the
Fluchthorn
The Fluchthorn or Piz Fenga is a mountain in the Silvretta Alps, located on the border between Austria and Switzerland. With a height of above sea level, it is the second highest summit of the Silvretta Alps. The Fluchthorn lies between the Ja ...
, the
Piz Buin
Piz Buin () is a mountain in the Silvretta range of the Alps on the border between Austria and Switzerland. It forms the border between the Swiss canton of Graubünden and the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and is the highest peak in Vorarlberg. ...
Grond, the
Verstanclahorn
The Verstanclahorn is a mountain of the Swiss Silvretta Alps, located between Piz Buin and Piz Linard in the canton of Graubünden. The mountain has a pyramidal shape with the northern face lying above the Verstancla Glacier. The smaller glac ...
and the
Piz Fliana.
The first ascent was made 1868 by O.W. Stein and his guide Christian Jann.
Geography
The Piz Buin Pitschen lies on the main ridge of the Silvretta alps. It is separated from its more famous neighbour by the Buinlücke (Fourcla Buin), a 3,056 m high mountain pass between the two summits.
Piz Buin Pitschen separates two glacial valleys, the
Ochsenthaler Glacier on the north and
La Cudera on the southwest of the mountain. While the Ochsenthaler Glacier forms the origin of the River Ill, which first fills the
Silvretta Reservoir
The Silvretta Reservoir is a reservoir in Austria. It is located approximately above sea level and covers an area of . It, along with the Vermunt Reservoir, feeds the Obervermuntwerk II Pumped-storage hydroelectricity, pumped-storage power plant ...
at the Silvretta High-Alpine-Road and later flows into the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
(
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 Norwegian S ...
). South of Piz Buin Pitschen the water flows in the
Inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
, which empties into 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 ...
(
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
).
In the west, the Fourcla dal Cunfin separates the Piz Buin Pitschen from the 3210 m high
Signalhorn. The pass also allows the transition from the Austrian Ochsentaler glacier to the Swiss glacier La Cudera. The glacier La Cudera flows off towards the Tuoi valley, also Swiss, south of the Piz Buin Pitschen, a
side valley
Side valleys and tributary valleys are valleys whose brooks or rivers flow into greater ones.
Upstream, the valleys can be classified in an increasing order which is equivalent to the usual orographic order: the tributaries are ordered from th ...
of the
Lower 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 ''G ...
near
Guarda.
The Silvretta High-Alpine-Road, which connects the two Austrian states Vorarlberg and Tyrol, runs along the banks of the Silvretta Reservoir over the 2032 m high
Bielerhöhe. The parking facilities there and the bus connection are the starting point for the access to the Wiesbadener hut, from where the easiest route to the summit starts.
Climbing routes
The Piz Buin Pitschen is climbed in compared to its higher neighbor, the Piz Buin Grond rather rarely. It can be done both in summer as a glacier and rock climb and in winter as
ski touring
Ski touring is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas. Touring is typically done off-piste and outside of ski resorts, and may extend over a period of more than one day. It is similar to backcountry skiing but excludes the u ...
.
The route of the first ascent led from the
Silvretta hut
The Silvretta Alps are a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps shared by Tirol, Vorarlberg (both in Austria) and Graubünden (Switzerland). The Austrian states of Tirol and Vorarlberg are connected by a pass road ( Silvretta Hochalpenstr ...
(2341 m) over the Silvretta pass to the summit.
The easiest route leads from the
Wiesbadener hut (2443 m) in Vorarlberg over the Buinlücke (Fourcla Buin) and the west ridge to the summit. The Piz Buin Pitschen can also be climbed from the Chamonna Tuoi (2250 m) in the Swiss Tuoi valley over the glacier La Cudera and Fourcla dal Cunfin or the Vermuntpass.
The ascent of the Kleine Piz Buin leads in any case over glacier and requires climbing at level II in the
UIAA
The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation, commonly known by its French name Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme (UIAA, lit. ''International Union of Alpine Clubs''), was founded in August 1932 in Chamonix, France ...
grading system, which can be surpassed by the melting of the glacier.
Name and history
The name Piz Buin is derived from the
Rumantsch and means "Ochsenspitze" in German what can be translated with "Ox-peak". This name is supplemented in Rumantsch with Grond and Pitschen to distinguish the two summits from each other. If someone only says "Piz Buin", then normally the
Piz Buin Grond is meant.
The first ascent of the Piz Buin Pitschen took place on 24 August 1868 by O.W. Stein and Christian Jann, about three years after that of the Piz Buin Grond.
Their path led from
Klosters
Klosters is a Switzerland, Swiss village in the Prättigau, politically part of the Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality of Klosters-Serneus, which belongs to the political district Prättigau/Davos Region, Prättigau/Davos in the Cantons o ...
via Alp Spörra and Sardasca to the "Clubhütte", today the Silvretta hut, as O.W. Stein describes in his report. From there they climbed over a crevasse glacier towards the Silvretta Pass, where Stein and his guide decided to climb the Piz Buin Pitschen after a rest at the "Mittagsplatte" (Plan da Mezdi) due to the good weather. Stein reports of a rugged rock ridge. At the top, a little cairn was built, which contained in a paper in a bottle with the names of the two climbers. They chose the descent "north along the ridge".
O.W. Stein stated in his report the height of the mountain with 3264 m.
References
External links
Piz Buin Pitschen on Hikr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buin
Mountains of the Alps
Alpine three-thousanders
Mountains of Vorarlberg
Mountains of Graubünden
Austria–Switzerland border
International mountains of Europe
Mountains of Switzerland
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