Con le ciaspole al Muott'Ota

The departure is from Sils, I recommend that you leave the car as we did, just south of the bridge and reach the village on foot or get to Sils directly by bus.

From the centre of Sils, you climb the road to the top of the large hotel, here you take the snowshoe trail through the forest. Follow the signs for Val di Fex, Val Fedoz and - occasionally - Muott'Ota. The direction to follow tends to be south-west.

There are several possible alternatives, the important thing is to reach the main junction between Val di Fex and Val Fedoz, at the foot of a modest rocky cliff to the north.

Here we turn left as if to return to Val di Fex, but just above (less than two hundred meters) we take the path (not very visible with deep snow) that climbs to the right in the middle of the woods. From here the real climb begins. The path climbs steeply up the mountainside, reaches a first vantage point with a bench and continues sharply towards the southwest. Almost until it touches a modest rocky cataract, where it veers decisively to the east and goes around it by climbing up its side.

We are at a good point, with a long traverse and a couple of hairpin bends we take ourselves (about an hour and a half-two from the start) to the foretop, where a bench awaits us. The summit is in sight in front of us.

We descend a few meters into the basin between the two peaks and always climb from the east towards the main peak. Here we have a bend to the right, then the path climbs diagonally to the left and reaches the modest curvature of the wide summit of Muott'Ota (about thirty minutes from the foretop). On clear days, the view is magnificent and the calm of the place invites contemplation.

The descent takes place from the south-east. Partly following the tracks, partly improvising with various zigzags, you descend steeply and head towards the Alpe di Cheva Plattes in Val di Fex. from here you descend back to the center of the valley.

Now you can choose one of the various roads (the paved one, the track close to the forest or the low one, on the river) to return to the main center of the valley. From here I recommend taking the forest path back to Sils (about an hour and a half-two from the top) passing near the carriage station and the Nietsche house.