A note from the SP staff
Cyrill Rüegger, the member we all used to know as Cyrill and Digitalis, died on May 13th 2009 in an avalanche on the summit ridge of Piz Palü together with his wife Tanja and a common friend. They were swept down by the avalanche into a couloir underneath the east summit and died instantly. Their bodies were retrieved from the Palü Glacier by helicopter a day after the accident.

Cyrill joined SP in March 2006 and soon was one of the most prolific contributors on the site with almost 70 mountain and 5 range pages to his profile. He was an accomplished climber, bagging almost 1000 summits in not quite seven years. Among them are 35 4000ers and 272 3000ers, almost all of them in his home country Switzerland.

While contributing a lot on SP, Cyrill's real internet home was www.hikr.org where he contributed 585 mountain profiles and reports in his native language German. Cyrill also posted on www.bergsteigen.at and other climbing sites, often under his real name but also under the pseudonym Digitalis. He was a botanist by profession and also contributed his knowledge about medical plants to different websites. Cyrill will be greatly missed by all.

This page will be kept in honour of Cyrill, one of SP's most prolific members and most active mountaineers.

Rest in peace, brother!

The picture above was taken on the summit of Matterhorn on July 28th 2007.

Overview

Augstenberg 3230m is a mountain on the border between Switzerland and Austria, in the canton Grisons and Tirol. Augstenberg belongs to the Silvretta Group and the Rhaetian Alps. He is in the proximity of the Tuoi hut, Jamtal hut and Heidelberger hut. In the east of the Augstenberg is the Futschöl pass 2768m with an old customhouse and in the west the alpine Fuorcla Chalaus 3004m. The Rhaeto-Romanic name of the Augstenberg is Piz Blaisch Lunga. Augstenberg is a popular mountain in summer as well as in spring with ski.

To the southwest of the Augstenberg you find the glacier "Vadret da Chalaus" , to the west the "Chalausferner" and to the north the "Futschölferner".

Augstenberg 3230m

Route & Difficulty

Summer route:

Jamtal hut 2165m - Point 2413m - Chalausferner - Fuorcla Chalaus 3004m - Westflank - Augstenberg mainsummit 3230m.

Difficulty: L-WS (F-PD), 1100metres in altitude.

Ski tour route:

Jamtal hut 2165m - Point 2413m - Chalausferner - Fuorcla Chalaus 3004m - Westflank - Augstenberg mainsummit 3230m.

Route: Route 625b, Difficulty: ZS (AD), 1100metres in altitude.

(From the Tuoi hut and the Heidelberger hut is the tour longer...)

Accommodations

Jamtal hut 2165m - Link: www.jamtalhut.de

Heidelberger hut 2264m - Link: www.heidelbergerhut.de

Tuoi hut 2250m - Link: www.tuoi.ch

Heidelberger hut in Switzerland 2264m

Getting There

The nearest international airports are Innsbruck in Austria, Milano and Verona in Italy and Zürich in Switzerland.

From Innsbruck
Take motorway A12/E60 west towards Landeck. There take B180/184 (B27 in Switzerland) across Finstermünz Pass to Unterengadin, to reach the southern side of the Silvretta Group. For the northern part, take Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse, B188.

From Zürich
Take motorway A3 east to Vaduz. At exit Bad Ragaz take B28 to Davos and across Füelapass to Susch for the southern part of the group. Alternatively at Bad Ragaz turn north onto motorway A13 to Vaduz where you cross over via B191 to Feldkirch and motorway E60 east. At Bludenz turn south onto B188 Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse.

From Milano
Take the ring motorway north and leave for SS36 north. It will take you by Monza and Lago di Como until you reach Chiavenna. There turn Onto SS37 east in direction of St. Moritz. The road turns into B27 on the Swiss side of the border and takes you to Unterengadin and the south of the Silvretta Group.

From Verona
Take Motorway A22 (Brenner Motorway northward until you reach Bozen / Bolzano. There turn onto SS38, Vinschgauer Staatsstrasse, which takes you to Schluderns and from there on northwards to Reschenpass and Landeck, where you can turn onto B188 for the north of the Silvretta Group. For the south turn onto SS41 / B28 across Ofenpass and through Val Müstair to Unterengadin.

(Thank you Gangolf for this description)

Weather, climate and snow conditions in Switzerland and Austria

Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology

Weather SFDRS

Meteo News.ch

Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research Davos: www.slf.ch

Images