Trail running the Bernina Tour – the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps

Tours

26:25 h

75.7 mi

17,600 ft

Standing at 13,284 feet (4,049 m), the Piz Bernina is the highest mountain in the Eastern Alps. You can now circumnavigate this impressive mountain massif between Switzerland and Italy on a relatively new route for hikers and trail runners.

It took me four days to complete the route, but I modified the third and fourth day to avoid the snowfields at higher altitudes. Even in the beginning of July, there was quite a lot of snow. The original route can be found here: komoot.de/tour/66090357.

The scenery along the route was magical throughout. The trails varied in difficulty from easy paths to challenging crossings of large boulder fields. You need alpine experience, a good level of fitness, and surefootedness for this adventure.

Depending on your fitness and how you travel (running or hiking), you can divide the tour into more or less stages. When planning the stages, you should err on the conservative side, especially on the Italian section, as progress here is often relatively slow due to the nature of the paths.

All in all, this was a really great and scenic tour which I would do again in a heartbeat.

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Trailrunning auf der Bernina Tour

71.5 mi

17,875 ft

Last updated: May 20, 2022

Tours

Bernina-Umrundung – Tag 1: Pontresina nach Maloja
05:19
18.5 mi
3.5 mph
4,375 ft
4,300 ft
The Bernina circumnavigation adventure - as is so often the case in Switzerland - does not actually start in Pontresina, but already on the train journey there. With its many tunnels and daring bridges, the Rhaetian Railway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the trip is definitely an experience.

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Bernina-Umrundung – Tag 2: Maloja nach Campo Moro
10:33
24.5 mi
2.3 mph
5,950 ft
5,550 ft
Definitely the most demanding section of the tour is between Maloja and the Campo Moro reservoir. At Maloja, after a short, flatter warm-up phase, the long climb begins up to the 2,562-meter-high Muretto Pass, at the highest point of which you cross the border to Italy. From here it is no longer called…
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Bernina-Umrundung – Tag 3: Campo Moro nach Poschiavo
03:52
11.2 mi
2.9 mph
1,900 ft
5,175 ft
After the exhausting day before, we spontaneously rescheduled the third stage a bit - also to avoid the snow fields to be expected when circling the Sasso Moro. Instead of crossing the Passo Confinale, we cross the mountains a little further south via the Passo di Campagneda - and shortly after the highest…
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Bernina-Umrundung – Tag 4: Poschiavo nach Pontresina
06:40
21.6 mi
3.2 mph
5,400 ft
2,875 ft
As long as the way into the valley was the day before, the ascent the next day back into the mountains of Graubünden. The route roughly follows the rails of the Rhaetian Railway, which winds particularly impressively through the mountains on this part of the railway line. The highlight for all train…
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