Two friendly avalanche rescue dogs greet visitors enthusiastically as they climb the last steps up to the Tschierva hut. The boisterous creatures are not the only residents who feel thoroughly at home here. Many climbers use the hut as a base for tackling one of the best-known peaks in Graubünden: the Piz Bernina, which exerts a special appeal on expert mountaineers with its iconic Biancograt ridge, known as the “Ladder to heaven”. Climbers with less experience enjoy scaling the Piz Tschierva. All mountain lovers, meanwhile, can enjoy superb views of the famous summits from the dining room in the hut’s wooden annexe. The sleek rectilinear building is the work of the architect Hans-Jörg Ruch. His vision: the new does not touch the old, it serves purely as extension.

Don’t miss out the interview with Guardian of the Tschiervahütt, Caroline Zimmermann