Grisons · two days · one hut night

Albula hut weekend
11–12 September 2026

Friday over the Sertigpass to the Kesch-Hütte. Saturday over the Fuorcla Pischa to La Punt in the Engadin, or the easy way down to Bergün. Glacier-free on the red trails, marked white-red-white, T2 to T3.

Friday, as it wentBasel 06:33 · Zürich 07:38 · Sertig Sand 10:29 · walking 11:00

Friday hike11.2 km · +1080 / −310 m · 4:30 to 5:00 h

Friday nightKesch-Hütte SAC, 2625 m

Saturday, plan ALa Punt · 20.9 km · +980 / −1910 m · 7:00 to 7:30 h

Saturday, plan BBergün · 12.0 km · −1255 m, all downhill · 3:30 to 4 h

Saturday homeLa Punt 16:23 · Zürich 19:22 · Basel 20:26

The weekend at a glance

Distances and climb measured from the swisstopo tracks on the map page. Times are SAC-formula estimates.

Day	Route	km	↑ / ↓	Time	Grade
Fri 11	Sertig Sand 1858 m → Chüealptal → Grünsee → Sertigpass 2739 m → Lai da Ravais-ch → Val Sartiv → Kesch-Hütte 2625 m	11.2	+1080 / −310	4:30 to 5:00	T2/T3
Sat 12, plan A	Kesch-Hütte → above Chants → Val Plazbi → Fuorcla Pischa 2867 m → Chamanna d'Es-cha 2594 m → Val d'Es-cha → La Punt Chamues-ch 1692 m	20.9	+980 / −1910	7:00 to 7:30	T3
Sat 12, plan B	Kesch-Hütte → Val Tuors → Chants → Bergün 1372 m. Valley walking, all downhill	12.0	0 / −1255	3:30 to 4:00	T2
Sat 12, blue track	Kesch-Hütte → Vadret da Porchabella (glacier) → Porta d'Es-cha 3008 m → chains → Chamanna d'Es-cha → La Punt. Alpine route, see below	11.8	+410 / −1340	5:30 to 6:30	glacier

Plans A and B have no glacier contact. The Porchabella glacier is the view from the hut terrace, not a crossing.
The one technical moment on plan A is the last 300 m up the Fuorcla Pischa: steep, locally exposed, follow the paint.
Sunset is 19:40 on Friday and 19:38 on Saturday. Plan A finishes with about four hours of daylight to spare.

The forecast right now, Thursday 10 September

Saturday is the day. Every model has it clear from breakfast to evening at every point on the route, no rain anywhere. MET Norway alone puts low cloud on the hut at dawn, thinning by 09:00. Frost at first light is the one disagreement: MeteoSwiss has +1 to +2 °C at the hut and the Pischa, ECMWF and MET Norway −4 to −5 °C. 6 to 8 °C on the Pischa at 11:00. Wind picks up after 14:00, gusts 30 to 40 km/h on the ridges. Plan A is on.
Friday is the grey one. Low cloud sits on the Sertigpass and the hut all morning in the MeteoSwiss model, thinning to 60 to 70 % at the pass for our 14:15 crossing. MET Norway clears the hut from about 16:00, so the terrace may get an evening view. Drizzle or a shower possible, 0 to 2.5 mm across the models. Maximum 5 to 6 °C on the pass, gusts under 35 km/h. Shell on, views doubtful, nothing dangerous.
No snow forecast for Saturday in any model. MET Norway has a few flakes on the Sertigpass early Friday morning, 0.3 cm, hours before we get there. The hut station read 4.6 °C at 17:40 on Thursday, 0.4 mm of rain all day, nothing colder than 0.7 °C in 24 hours: the Pischa should be dry rock.
Live verdicts in the header above, hour by hour and webcams on the weather page. Phone the hut warden on Friday evening for the Pischa conditions anyway.

Friday: getting to Sertig Sand

Plan B is picked. Basel and Zürich are on the same IC3 to Landquart. Then RE to Küblis, rail replacement bus to Davos Platz, and bus 308 to Sertig Sand. All covered by the GA.

Track work in the Prättigau on 11 September

Landquart to Davos Platz runs as an RE to Küblis plus a replacement bus from Küblis station, an extra change and about the same total time. The times below already include it. Confirm in the SBB app the evening before.

Plan A fallback, earlier

05:33 Basel SBB → 06:26 Zürich HB, IC. Change at Zürich, platform 10 to 12.
06:38 Zürich HB → 07:41 Landquart, IC3. Zürich boards here.
07:49 Landquart → 08:10 Küblis, RE
08:18 Küblis → 08:55 Davos Platz, replacement bus
09:06 Davos Platz → 09:29 Sertig Sand, bus 308
Walking by 09:45, hut about 14:30 to 15:00
For a day when the afternoon turns wet: over the pass by 13:00

Plan B picked

06:33 Basel SBB, IC3 towards Chur. Stay on it.
07:38 Zürich HB, same train, platform 12. Meet on board.
08:41 Landquart, change to the 08:49 RE → 09:10 Küblis
09:18 Küblis → 09:55 Davos Platz, replacement bus
10:06 Davos Platz → 10:29 Sertig Sand, bus 308
Coffee at Kaffee Klatsch in Davos Platz, then walking at 11:00, hut about 15:45 to 16:15
Early enough for the pass, late enough for a normal alarm. This is the one, and it is what happened.

Plan C fallback, later

07:33 Basel SBB, IC3 towards Chur. Stay on it.
08:38 Zürich HB, same train. Meet on board.
09:41 Landquart, change to the 09:49 RE → 10:10 Küblis
10:18 Küblis → 10:55 Davos Platz, replacement bus
11:06 Davos Platz → 11:29 Sertig Sand, bus 308
Walking by 11:45, hut about 16:30 to 17:00, dinner is 18:30
Works, but no slack for a slow pass

Connections run every half hour. The other pattern is Basel xx:07 / Zürich xx:07, arriving Sertig Sand at xx:55, so plan B can slip 30 minutes either way.
Plan B is the plan. Plan A only if the forecast turns to a wet Friday afternoon. Plan C if a train is missed.
The replacement bus and bus 308 both leave from outside Davos Platz station, 11 minutes apart. The Coop next to it is the last proper shop, see food. Shopping there means the next bus, 30 minutes later.
Kaffee Klatsch, a few minutes from Davos Platz station: the coffee stop we took between the buses.
Walserhuus Sertig at the trailhead: coffee and the last toilet before the hut.

Day 1: Sertig Sand to the Kesch-Hütte

11.2 km · +1080 / −310 m · 4:30 to 5:00 · T2, short T3 at the pass.

Friday sunrise06:53Friday sunset19:40Hut dinner18:30

One long valley-to-pass-to-hut line, marked the whole way.
Times below follow the actual 11:00 start from Sertig Sand.

ETA	Place	Notes
11:00	Sertig Sand · 1858 m	Trailhead at the end of the bus line.
12:00	Chüealptal	Gentle start south up the valley along the stream.
13:15	Grünsee · about 2450 m	The valley steepens into the pass bowl. Lunch stop at the little lake.
14:15	Sertigpass · 2739 m	High point of the day. Piz Kesch and the Porchabella glacier open up ahead, cloud permitting.
15:00	Lai da Ravais-ch · about 2500 m	Twin lakes. A loop along the shore if ahead of time.
15:45 to 16:15	Kesch-Hütte · 2625 m	Contour through the Val Sartiv, then the last rise to the terrace.

At the hut early? Drop the bags and go out again

Arriving 15:45 to 16:15 leaves a bit over two hours before dinner. Check in, claim the bunks, then pick one.

The tarns below the hut. Two small pools a couple of hundred metres from the door. Ten minutes, good for feet and photos of Piz Kesch reflected.
Towards the Porchabella glacier. The path from the hut south-east into the glacier foreland under Piz Kesch, past small moraine lakes about 1.5 km out. Roughly an hour there and back on easy ground. Turn around where the marked path ends on the moraine, the route beyond is the blue track onto the ice. Ask the warden how far the path is worth following this year.
Back to the Lai da Ravais-ch. Retrace the Friday path 45 minutes down to the twin lakes, then 200 m back up to the hut. About an hour and a half, more with a swim. Only on a clear afternoon, the climb back is the price.
The terrace. The reason the hut is where it is. Sunset is 19:40, after dinner, and the Porchabella glacier faces it.

Friday is deliberately light. Want more on the way in? Start at Davos Frauenkirch and walk the flat valley floor (+6 km). Save the legs either way, Saturday is the big day.

The hut: Kesch-Hütte SAC, 2625 m

Kesch-Hütte SAC, Friday 11 to Saturday 12 September

2 people, 1 night, half board. Booked via kesch.ch.
CHF 87 per person, non-member rate, so CHF 174 for two, paid at the hut. Drinks, cake and lunch packs are extra (price list, PDF).
At dinner: order two lunch packs for Saturday and ask for the 06:30 breakfast.

85 places, terrace pointing at Piz Kesch 3418 m and the Porchabella glacier. Season 5 June to 6 November.
Dinner about 18:30, breakfast from about 06:30.
Duvets and hut slippers provided. Bring a silk or cotton liner, required in SAC huts.
Cards usually work. Carry some cash anyway.
Ask the warden at dinner for their read on the Fuorcla Pischa conditions. Fresh snow up there means plan B.
The hut runs a weather station: live temperature and wind at 2625 m, worth a look on Friday morning.

Day 2: Kesch-Hütte to La Punt, or to Bergün

Both plans start the same way. Decide above Chants at about 08:45, where the routes split.

Saturday sunrise06:54Saturday sunset19:38La Punt trainsxx:23 and xx:34Bergün trainsxx:47

Boots on by 07:15 whichever way it goes. Sunrise is 06:54, so breakfast at 06:30 is in the first light.
The first 4 km are shared: down the hut track into the Val Tuors, 650 m of descent, to the fork above Chants.
At the fork, feeling good and the Pischa clear: plan A, turn south into the Val Plazbi. Otherwise plan B, stay on the valley path to Bergün.
Snow on the Pischa settles it the night before: the warden's word at dinner makes it plan B before anyone leaves the hut.
Current forecast: clear all day, frost possible at dawn, gusts up to 40 km/h by late afternoon. A plan A day.

Plan A La Punt, 20.9 km

Two valleys and one pass, a hut with soup at km 14, then 900 m down the Val d'Es-cha into the Engadin.
7:00 to 7:30 h, +980 / −1910 m, T3. The Kesch-Trek stage, red-white marked the whole way.
Trains from La Punt at xx:23 and xx:34. Zürich in about 3 h, Basel in about 4 h.

Plan B Bergün, 12.0 km

Down the Val Tuors through Chants to Bergün. Valley path, no passes.
3:30 to 4 h, no climbing, −1255 m, T2.
Trains from Bergün hourly at xx:47. Zürich in 2h35, Basel in 3h40. Volg and bakery by the station.

Plan A timings

ETA	Place	Notes
07:15	Kesch-Hütte · 2625 m	Down the hut track west, losing about 650 m into the Val Tuors.
08:45	Above Chants · about 1960 m, km 4	The fork. Plan A turns south into the Val Plazbi, plan B stays on the valley path. Fill water here, it is all climb from now.
11:15	Fuorcla Pischa · 2867 m, km 10.4	The crux and the high point of the weekend. Last 300 m steep and exposed in places. Palü and Bernina on the skyline.
12:15	Chamanna d'Es-cha · 2594 m, km 14	Lunch: soup, cake, drinks (es-cha.ch). Leave by 13:00.
14:15	Val d'Es-cha · about 2000 m	Steady descent on the hut path, larches from about 2200 m. Fast ground.
15:15	La Punt Chamues-ch station · 1692 m, km 20.9	Train at 16:23 is the plan, 15:34 on a fast day. Platform beer from the Davos shop.

Plan B timings

ETA	Place	Notes
07:15	Kesch-Hütte · 2625 m	Same start as plan A, down the hut track into the Val Tuors.
08:45	Above Chants · about 1960 m	The fork. Plan B keeps to the valley path.
09:15	Chants · 1822 m	Hamlet at the head of the valley. Stay on the valley path.
11:15	Bergün / Bravuogn · 1372 m	RhB station, train at 11:47. Volg and bakery next door for lunch.

Decision points

Hut, Friday dinner. The warden's read on the Pischa. Fresh snow up there: plan B, decided.
Above Chants, 08:45. The fork, and the real decision. Legs, weather, mood. Plan A is 17 km and a 900 m climb from here, plan B is 2 h of valley path to Bergün.
Es-cha, 12:30. Over an hour late: no problem, it is all downhill from here and the trains run until 19:23. Truly cooked: a long lunch at the hut, then the same 2 h down.

The blue track: Porta d'Es-cha, 3008 m

Not a hiking route. Glacier crossing with chains, alpine equipment needed.

The short GPX from the hut to La Punt, 11.8 km, goes over the Vadret da Porchabella, the glacier below Piz Kesch, to the Porta d'Es-cha at 3008 m, then down fixed chains on the Es-cha side. It is marked white-blue-white: an alpine route, not a T-grade hiking path.
The SAC and the hut guides say the same thing: the glacier looks harmless but has crevasses, roping up is mandatory, and the kit is crampons, ice axe, rope and harness. Without glacier experience, go with a guide.
In mid-September the glacier is bare ice, so the crevasses are open and visible but the surface is hard and slick. Meltwater runs across it in the afternoon. After a frosty night like the one forecast, expect verglas on the chains and the rock at first light.
What it buys: 9 km and 570 m of climbing less than plan A, and a 3000 m col. What it costs: two to three hours on and above ice with kit we are not carrying.
Our call: plan A on the red trails. The blue track stays on the map for reference, and the warden will say the same over dinner. If anyone ever comes back for it: two people, rope, crampons, a dry cold morning, and start at first light.

Saturday: getting home

La Punt is on the RhB Engadin line. Change at Landquart for Zürich and Basel, hourly.

Two patterns from La Punt: xx:23 towards Scuol, change at Sagliains onto the RE to Landquart, about 3 h to Zürich. xx:34 towards Samedan, change onto the RE to Landquart, 20 minutes slower.
The Vereina tunnel route, not the Albula line, so no Landwasser viaduct this time. The Albula line is Friday's way in, up the Prättigau, and plan B's way out from Bergün.

Time	Leg	Notes
16:23	La Punt Chamues-ch → Sagliains, R	Arrives 17:03. Two-minute change onto the RE.
17:05	Sagliains → Landquart, RE	Through the Vereina tunnel. Arrives 18:10.
18:18	Landquart → Zürich HB, IC	Platform 3. Zürich 19:22.
19:34	Zürich HB → Basel SBB, IC3	Platform 17. Basel 20:26.

Off the 15:34 from La Punt: Zürich 18:53, Basel 19:52 on one ICE from Landquart.
Off the 17:23: Zürich 20:22, Basel 21:26 on one IC3 from Landquart, no change in Zürich. Off the 18:23: Zürich 21:22, Basel 22:26.
Plan B from Bergün at 11:47: Chur 13:02, Zürich 14:22, Basel about 15:30.

Food and water

Before leaving, or on the train. Breakfast and coffee. Not the full shop, no point carrying it over the Sertigpass.
Davos Platz, Kaffee Klatsch. The Friday coffee, done. Coop next to the station, the stock-up. Both days of snacks: trail mix, dried fruit, chocolate, cheese and bread for Friday lunch, electrolytes, the platform beers. It costs one bus, 30 minutes. The alternative is doing this shop at home on Thursday.
Kesch-Hütte. Half board, plus drinks, cake and chocolate at the counter. Order Saturday lunch packs at dinner. That is the main Saturday food plan.
Chamanna d'Es-cha, km 14 on Saturday. Soup, cake, drinks. Carry enough in case it is shut.
Water. 1 to 1.5 L each from the hut is enough. Top up above Chants before the Val Plazbi climb, the longest dry stretch. Streams are frequent otherwise, and the Val d'Es-cha descent has water.

What to bring

Tap to tick off. Ticks are saved on this phone only, so each of us keeps our own list.