Mountain·Austria / Switzerland

Piz Buin

3,312m

Silvretta Alps

32-Fuß-Freak · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Elevation: 3,312m
Prominence: 544m
Isolation: 6.1km
Relief: 1,286mabove the lowest point within 5 km
Steepest slope: 65°within 1 km of the summit
Snow at the summit: All yearSee month by month ↓
Summit: 46.8444°N, 10.1186°E

Mountain of the Silvretta Alps at the border of Vorarlberg, Austria, and Grisons, Switzerland

Piz Buin is a mountain in the Silvretta Alps (Austria). Its summit stands 3,312 m above sea level. Its prominence — how far it rises above the highest saddle linking it to a taller summit — is 544 m, and the nearest higher ground is 6.1 km away.

From the lowest point within 5 km (2,026 m), it rises 1,286 m. The steepest side is the south-east face: 40° on average over the first kilometre. In places the ground near the top reaches 65° — terrain for climbers, not walkers.

The nearest town is Galtür, 14 km away at 1,592 m: 1,720 m below the summit.

Piz Buin for skiers and climbers

Two scores out of 10, built only from open data — every part is shown. They describe what the mountain offers, not how safe it is.

Hiking & mountaineering

9.4/10

Difficulty to the top

Alpine climb

Most path sections around the top are T5 on the SAC hiking scale. Glaciers around the top.

Indicative only — never a safety assessment. Conditions change: ask local guides and check the forecast.

2.5/2.533 waymarked routes and 159 path sections nearby
1.5/1.512 huts and shelters
1.7/21,720 m of ascent from the valley
1.2/1.5544 m of prominence
1.5/1.57 months with summit afternoons above −5 °C
1.0/1via ferratas, climbing and glaciers

Ski score

6.7/10

3.2/497 km of downhill runs
0.5/1.514 ski lifts
0.0/1.5lift station heights not mapped
3.0/37 months of snow at about 2,092 m

Runs by difficulty

Beginner 2 km
Easy 47 km
Intermediate 30 km
Difficult 6 km

Snow season on the slopes (estimate)

Around 2,092 m, in the middle of the ski area: snow from November to May (some years from October to May).

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

14 lifts · 39 km cross-country

How these scores are made

Ski (where OpenStreetMap has skiing within 12 km): up to 4 points for the length of downhill runs (300 km or more = 4), 1.5 for the number of lifts (40+), 1.5 for the vertical between lift stations (1,500 m) and 3 for the snow season — a month counts when the estimated mean temperature at the height of the ski area is −1 °C or lower and snow falls or lies there (NASA POWER, 2001–2020). Hiking & mountaineering: up to 2.5 for waymarked routes and paths, 1.5 for huts, 2 for the ascent from the valley (2,000 m), 1.5 for prominence (3,000 m), 1.5 for the season (months with summit afternoons above −5 °C) and 1 for via ferratas, climbing and glaciers. OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: where few things are mapped, a score can be lower than reality.

Plan your visit

Stay, climb and get there

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Snow

When there is snow on Piz Buin

At the summit, snow all year round. Month by month below, at different heights on the way up.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Summit3,312 msnow all year round	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Halfway up2,452 msnow from October to June	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month
Galtür1,592 msnow from November to April (some years from November to May)	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month	Snow some of the time	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	No snow	Snow on the ground all month	Snow on the ground all month

Snow on the ground all month
Snow some of the time
No snow
This month

Estimate for a normal year: average temperature and precipitation from NASA POWER, carried to each height, in a simple model of snow building up and melting. In a given year snow can come earlier or stay longer. It does not replace the local snow and avalanche bulletin.

Summit weather

Piz Buin, month by month

Not a forecast: long-term averages (1991–2020), carried up to the summit. The orange line is where an average afternoon reaches 0 °C; above the dashed blue line it freezes even at dawn.

On an average July afternoon the summit reaches about 8 °C; on January nights it falls to about -22 °C. In 7 months of the year it stays below freezing at the top even in the afternoon. In July the 0 °C line climbs to about 4,460 m, above the summit: the top thaws on an average afternoon. Across the region, February is the driest month (70 mm) and August the wettest (184 mm).

0 °C on an average afternoon 0 °C at dawn the summit

Month	Summit high °C	Summit low °C	Galtür high °C	0 °C line (m)	Rain & snow (mm)	Wet days	Sun h/day
January	-13	-22	-2	1,280	93	14	3.3
February	-12	-22	-1	1,390	70	12	4.6
March	-10	-18	2	1,850	90	16	5.5
April	-4	-13	7	2,730	88	17	6.0
May	2	-9	13	3,560	146	21	6.0
June	6	-4	17	4,220	170	21	7.0
July	8	-2	19	4,460	167	21	7.3
August	7	-3	18	4,400	184	20	6.8
September	3	-7	14	3,770	122	16	5.5
October	-1	-10	10	3,160	101	14	4.6
November	-7	-15	4	2,190	90	14	3.1
December	-12	-20	-1	1,480	93	15	2.8

Estimate: the NASA POWER climate of a ~55 km cell (average height 1,896 m), adjusted to the summit by −6.5 °C per 1,000 m. Rain, wet days and sunshine are those of the region. Mountain weather changes fast — always check a local forecast. ★ = mildest months at the top.

Relief

The mountain in profile

Two cuts through the summit, 16 km long, from the 30 m Copernicus elevation model. Heights drawn 2× taller than lengths, so the shape can be seen.

West – east

South – north

Steepness by direction

Average slope of the first kilometre from the summit. The orange petal is the steepest side.

Around the mountain

Huts, lifts and trails around Piz Buin

Counted around the summit in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. The satellite plate shows 14 × 14 km.

N 5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 14 × 14 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

12mountain huts and shelters
Chamanna Cler (2,476 m), Chamonna Tuoi (2,250 m), Saarbrücker Hütte (2,537 m), Wiesbadener Hütte (2,442 m) and 8 more
—cable cars, gondolas, chairlifts and rack railways
3ski areas
Scuol Motta Naluns, Silvretta-Bielerhöhe
33waymarked hiking routes
Zentralalpenweg 02, Via Engiadina, Via Engiadina - Etappe 2, Guarda - Lajet - Clüs - Alp Sura and 29 more
3via ferratas
Pfannknecht-Klettersteig, Klettersteig Kleinlitzner
4climbing crags and routes
Klettergarten Ardez, Kletterpark Silvrettasee, Klettergarten Wiesbadener Hütte
47named glaciers
Schweizer Gletscher, Kromer Gletscher, Getschnerferner, Hennebergferner and 43 more
1viewpoints
—campsites
19hotels, B&Bs and chalets
Chalamandrin, Posta Veglia, Chasa Allegra, Guarda Lodge and 15 more
22restaurants and cafés

How hard are the paths?

159 path sections within 5 km, by SAC hiking scale (T1 easy walk … T6 difficult alpine).

T1T2T3T4T5T6

T1 hiking
T2 mountain hiking
T3 demanding mountain hiking
T4 alpine hiking
T5 demanding alpine hiking
T6 difficult alpine hiking

Towns at the foot

Galtür14 km · 1,592 m
Scuol15 km · 1,250 m
Zernez16 km · 1,477 m
Gaschurn17 km · 969 m
Klosters Serneus22 km · 998 m
Davos22 km · 1,560 m
Sankt Gallenkirch23 km · 879 m
Ischgl23 km · 1,378 m

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OpenStreetMap is built by volunteers: a low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. Places © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

Photos

Seen by climbers and visitors

2 Piz Buin durch die Lücke zwischen Ochsenkopf und Vermuntkopf — 32-Fuß-Freak · CC BY-SA 4.0

Alp Sout Piz Buin — Whgler · CC BY-SA 4.0

Recent years

How each month compared at the summit

Afternoon high at the summit (estimate). The first row is the reference, the 1991–2020 average in °C; the years show only the difference.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1991–2020 average	-13	-12	-10	-4	2	6	8	7	3	-1	-7	-12
2020	+2.8	+2.6	+1.1	+3.5	+0.7	−1.7	+0.3	+0.8	+1.5	−2.5	+3.7	+0.2
2021	−1.6	+2.5	−0.6	−3.4	−3.2	+2.0	+0.2	−1.6	+2.3	−0.7	−0.1	+0.8
2022	+0.7	+1.2	+1.3	+0.6	+2.2	+3.0	+1.8	+1.6	−1.3	+3.6	+0.4	+1.4
2023	+0.4	+2.1	+2.9	−1.5	+0.1	+1.4	+1.1	+1.2	+5.2	+2.9	−2.0	+1.8
2024	+2.0	+3.4	+1.7	−1.2	−0.1	+0.2	+1.9	+3.2	−0.7	+1.6	+2.0	+1.2
2025	+1.7	+2.7	+2.7	+3.8	−0.5	+4.1	−1.4	+0.9	+1.4	−1.0	−0.1	+2.6

+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual

Nearby

More mountains nearby

3,197 mDreiländerspitze

Switzerland21 km away

3,418 mPiz Kesch

Switzerland31 km away

2,599 mGrauspitz

Switzerland47 km away

About these numbers

Names, elevation, prominence	Wikidata (Q16588) · CC0
Relief, 3D view, profiles	Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Climate	NASA POWER, 1991–2020 · CC BY 4.0
Around the mountain	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

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