Simon Akam

Photography: Mountains: The Silvretta Traverse

The Silvretta Traverse is a celebrated ski tour in the Eastern Alps. It stitches back and forth for 80km across the border between Vorarlberg in Austria and the Swiss canton of Graubünden, in the shadow of the lofty summit of Piz Buin.

Mountaineer Steve Gould skis up the Fimbatal Valley above the Heidelberger Hütte.
   
Mountaineer Steve Gould carries his skis on steep ground beneath the Rota Furka col, which marks the border between Switzerland and Austria. (Simon Akam)
   
Ski-mountaineers use crampons and ice axes to climb steep snow slopes just below the summit of the Silvrettahorn (3244m). (Simon Akam)
     
  
Mountaineer Steve Gould carries his skis on steep ground beneath the Rota Furka col, which marks the border between Switzerland and Austria. (Simon Akam)