On a larger scale, birds of prey such as the magnificent golden eagle may be spotted gliding high overhead. With a wingspan exceeding two metres, this alpine giant visits many a valley in the course of a single day’s hunting for mammals such as hares and young marmots (although they do not disdain birds and small ungulates). In winter the eagle has been known to scavenge carcasses of animals such as chamois that have been the victim of avalanches, putting the bird in direct competition with the successfully re-introduced bearded vulture.
In springtime the lammergeier, as this vulture is also known, keeps an eye out for birds dropping from exhaustion during the demanding migration flights north. Its diet is composed of 80 per cent bones, which it cracks open by dropping them from a height onto rocks. With a wingspan up to 2.8m and a body of over one metre long, the bearded vulture is easily recognised, especially as its eyesight is not the best, meaning it often flies close to the ground.
Animals
A young chamois
The vast woods around the Bernina are home to shy, majestic red deer, and pretty roe deer can occasionally be seen flitting through tree cover. Loftier rocky terrain is preferred by nimble-footed chamois – a mountain goat with a striped face, crochet-hook horns and an amazing lack of concern for precipitous cliffsides. Stocky ibex, with massive grooved horns, can be spotted above the high refuges; they are inquisitive and unbothered by humans. Alpine hare are not unusual, their outsized ears a giveaway. However, it’s likely you’ll see more of all the above on restaurant menus than you will in nature, as hunting (strictly controlled) is a common practice.
An adult marmot
The adorable alpine marmot is by far the easiest wild animal to see and observe at length. A bit like a beaver or ground hog in appearance, it lives in large underground colonies but spends daytime hours romping in meadows and devouring flowers, along with the occasional insect. A community sentinel is always on guard for the approach of predators such as foxes or eagles, and if threatened it will emit a shrill, ear-splitting whistle that inevitably sends young and old alike scampering down the nearest burrow. Marmots hibernate from October to April, waking but once a month to urinate. Now protected, they were once hunted for their skins and fat, and paraded in street fairs.
Darting, elegant ermine or stoat live under rocks but venture out towards dusk in search of dinner, which will sometimes consist of scraps from a refuge kitchen.
Snakes are not uncommon, however the viper or adder is the only venomous one. Tawny brown, it has a diamond-shaped head and distinctive zigzag markings down its back and it grows up to 70cm in length. Vipers are commonly encountered on open terrain in the vicinity of abandoned huts, where they hunt small rodents. They sun themselves to raise their body temperature so may seem sluggish if disturbed, reacting with a threatening hiss in self-defence. Step back and give them time to slither away. In the extremely unlikely case that you are bitten, waste no time calling for help and in the meantime immobilise the bite area with a bandage. If possible stay put. Attacks are rarely fatal, although it’s best to get expert medical assistance as quickly as possible.
The huge nests constructed by the red wood ant house hundreds and thousands of workers
Lastly, a humble ant deserves a mention. Enormous conical nests, towering up to two metres in height, are constructed by the red wood ant in conifer woods, which they protect by devouring damaging parasites. The nests are home to hundreds of thousands of workers, which live to the incredible age of 10 years, and queens that can survive to the ripe old age of 20!
Getting there
The Tour of the Bernina
For the trek start of Pontresina in southeast Switzerland, the country’s most convenient airport is Zurich (www.zurich-airport.com, 200km/3hr 30min by train via Chur). There’s also nearby St Moritz (www.engadin-airport.ch), although flights from overseas destinations are limited. East across the border in Austria is Innsbruck (www.innsbruck-airport.com, 190km/5hr by train). Other good options are the Italian airports of either Malpensa or Linate on the outskirts of Milano (www.sea-aeroportimilano.it, 175km/4hr 30min by train via Tirano, otherwise train to Chiavenna and then a Swiss bus via Maloja) or Bergamo (Orio al Serio: www.sacbo.it,145km/4hr 30min by train via Lecco and Tirano).
The Alta Via Valmalenco
The trek start, Torre di Santa Maria, is in Valmalenco, which branches off the broad Valtellina at the township of Sondrio. Buses serve this route year-round. Sondrio, on the other hand, is easily reached by train from Milano Centrale via Lecco and Lake Como.
Getting around
Routes and timetables for trains in Switzerland can be found at www.sbb.ch, and for buses at www.autopostale.ch. Also SBB Mobile is a very useful app which covers all public transport information. It’s worth noting that a complimentary local Swiss travel card covering buses, trains and lifts is free for visitors who stay at least two nights at a hotel or hostel in the Engadine.
Information about trains in Italy can be found at www.trenitalia.com, Tel 892021, and about Valmalenco buses at www.stps.it, Tel 0342 511212. It’s important to remember that for Italian trains, unless you’ve a booked seat (in which case your ticket will show a date and time), you should validate (stamp) your ticket in one of the machines on the platform before boarding. Failure to do so can result in a fine.
THE BERNINA EXPRESS
A train threads its way between houses at Tirano
The northern Italian town of Tirano lies at 429m above sea level, while St Moritz in southeastern Switzerland is located at 1856m. In between them stands the Bernina Pass at 2329m. Remarkably, they are linked by the Bernina Express railway, which takes two and a half hours to cover the 60km and operates year-round. With spectacular switchbacks, 13 tunnels and cuttings, 52 bridges and viaducts, long ramps and astonishingly steep gradients (the maximum incline is 7%), and no help at all from a rack and pinion system, the trains climb steadily on a narrow gauge track. Constructed between 1906 and 1910 with the purpose of encouraging tourism, it is one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world – not to mention the highest-altitude transalpine railway of all. En route, picturesque villages, forests, lakes and glaciers can be admired. In combination with the northern stretch from St Moritz to Thusis, the Bernina Express was in 2008 assigned World Heritage status by UNESCO.
It is run as a normal service and advance booking is not necessary (unless you hanker after an open-sided observation car). Tickets are sold on the spot and unmanned stations have automatic ticketing machines that accept both cash and credit cards. Timetables at www.sbb.ch.
Tourist information
The Italian Tourist Board has offices all over the world and can help intending travellers with general information (www.enit.it). Switzerland’s