Piz Vial

Comment (Automatic translation in english)

Piz Vial is a mountain in the Greina region located entirely on Graubünden territory but only 900 metres from Canton Ticino. To reach it, the shortest route starts from Val Camadra and more precisely from Pian Geirett.
In order not to lose altitude unnecessarily, I do not immediately follow the official path but start walking northwards, reaching it around 2220 metres and climbing it up to the Greina Pass. I then continue towards the Terri Hut until I reach a large scree slope, right at the entrance to the valley that leads up to Piz Vial and from where the Rein da Sumvitg descends. At this point I leave the path and start to climb, staying on the eastern side of the river, where a track can also be seen at times. Towards an altitude of 2470 metres, rocks begin to appear, but these are still interspersed with small patches of grass. The ascent then continues northwards, occasionally marked by a few small stone cairns, to an altitude of 2737 metres, where a small lake of glacial origin is reached. Continuing to climb, I reach an altitude of 2900 metres where the rocks dominate and walking becomes more challenging. One last scree slope takes me up to the nozzle at an altitude of 3093 metres where there is the famous passage, on the northern side, which allows you to reach the crest of Piz Greina (see photo). I had thought about it for the return, but seeing how exposed it is on the north side I decided to leave this mountain for another time and climb it from another direction. My destination is now on the other side.
I start to climb up the south-east ridge of Piz Vial, staying on the left side, and then move onto its southern slope. Towards an altitude of 3140 metres I reach the last rocks before the summit, where there are also some grade II climbing passages. After climbing them I finally reach the summit.
On Piz Vial there is a peculiar cross. At first glance it looks normal, but when you look at it from the side, you discover that it actually consists of 7 crosses placed 1 cm apart. I stay an hour at the summit, but then I decide that it is better to start descending, even though I have little desire to do so.
For the return, I follow the same route as on the way up, but make a short diversions to the Capanna Scaletta. I finally reach Val Camadra where my excursion ends.
As far as water is concerned, there is the river above Pian Geirett, which is crossed at an altitude of 2130 metres, and then the Rein da Sumvitg in the valley down from Piz Vial. At the Capanna Scaletta there is a fountain whose water, however, is not drinkable.