My friend Blackie asked me once if I would like to join him for a two day ski-tour with a sleep over in a mountain hut. Easy tempo, no rush and nice weather. I said yes.
The Medelserhutte is a hut maintained by the SAC (Schweizer Alpen-Club). It is located in Graubunden Switzerland, close to the village called Disentis. Disentis became a place of international importance as it is situated on the road to the Lukmanier pass, used by German emperors on the way to Italy. Later, there was a new route built through the Gotthard Pass and the Lukmanier lost its influence.
The Medelserhutte is often used as a base camp for summer and winter tours. In some books, the skitour route starts at the bottom village Curaglia, just 5 km away from Disentis on a way to Lukmanier pass. We wanted to get to the hut, sleep over, do possibly short skitour next day and ski back.
Backpacks are fully packed. Each backpack includes a mandatory avalanche safety gear (beacon, shovel, probe), hard-shell jacket, helmet with googles, spare socks & gloves, leg warmers, beanie, down jacket, ski skins, crampons, camel bag, few packs of dry food, one stove per group and fresh home-made sandwiches. Let’s go !
The classification of the skitour to the Hutte is PD – little difficult. It takes about 4 hours to get to the Hutte, ascending about 1200 high meters. I trust my friend for selecting this route. I have never been here before, not even during the summer. After a while, it seems it is just a hiking path as the route is quite narrow with not many space to maneuver when descending.
Once you cross the small mountain stream, the valley opens up for you. There is a small hut on the right, however the route goes straight and starts to be more difficult.
Last part of the route is pretty steep and most demanding from entire ascend. Be prepared for lots of zig-zags. Sometimes I wonder how the ski skins can stick to the snow so strong that will not let you down and just occasionally slip a little. I also put a crampons on, as the parts of the track were a bit icy, especially those in the shade. This last section is definitely one you need to be most respectful of.
The Medelserhutte, first built in year 1910, now renovated in 2006, offers cozy winter room, beds, table, some beverages that can be paid online via swiss service called TWINT. And it also offers awesome views.
What’s next ? Well, one can rest, sleep over, cook own dry food or relax. After a short brainstorming session, we decided to descent. Why ? Hm. The hut was occupied, we forgot to book it upfront. Although the reservation system is available online and very straightforward, sometimes these small things just slip away from our minds.