Pinut VF (6.10. 2007)

Team: Anna, Yves, Andy

The Pinut via ferrata near Flims is apparently the oldest in Switzerland with first references to a very steep path leading up to the Pinut pastures dating back to the mid 18th century. It was a hundred years ago that some guys realized the potential for the tourism and fitted the route with some iron stairs. The Pinut via ferrata has been recently totally redone including new fixed cables providing a very secure via ferrata experience.
It was Yves first 'Klettersteig' and we chose the Pinut because it is well protected and of an easy grade. In contrast to the very sunny Friday today was overcast and when we arrived in Flims a light rain was falling. This was all not too inspiring, nonetheless we made our way up to the entry point, just taking enough time along the way to read a sign stating :' .... do not blindly trust the cables and ladders ....!'

"Golly, how can you not trust a ladder when you gotta climb it!?!"
'You need to stay critical towards ladders, mate!'


Historical via ferrata 'Pinut'.












Any potential view was obstructed by heavy fog and it was not until the very few last metres that we caught a first glimpse of the wall. Time to gear up!



The team ready to head into the misty unknowns














Yves at the start of the VF Pinut with some rock pillar looming above in the mist.



It did not take long to loose sight of the ground due to the thick fog. This was certainly a bit of a drawback as some passages were just not really scary ...













An airy pathway























The first cliff was followed by a forested terrain, the 'Pinut' parcel. Here we found natural arrangements of colourful autumn leaves.



Arrangement of Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) leaves






Beech (Fagus) tree with golden autumn leaves























Dew drops on a grass blade






















All the time we had the feeling that the sun was getting stronger and just when arriving at the foot of the third and last cliff we got into sunshine!




Yves and Anna at the start of the last cliff






















The joy was however short lived as new ranks of mist closed the gaps and the sun was obscured again. A further ascent across alpine pastures led up to 2050m asl (Alp Staffel Sut) where we got some more sunshine and a fresh wind refreshed us after all that sweaty toil up the mountain.
A hiking trail led down to Bargis where we had enough time to sample some local beer in two varieties: lager and dark. The dark one had an unusual, somewhat bland taste while the lager was generally better but I associated the smell with a milk like odour with a bit of a cow shed tang added to it. It made us however immensely tired and relaxed!

Wrap up: a good excursion under cloudy, foggy conditions that added a lot to the atmosphere.