The rifugio Entova-Scerscen is situated on foot of the glacier Scerscen Inferior south of the Bernina Group in Valmalenco. It was buildt around 1970 and was (or better is) property of the ski instructors and alpine guides of Valmalenco. It is situated at an altitude of 3000m and served as a base for the summer skiing on Scerscen Glacier. Arriving by car at Saint Joshep (San Giuseppe), one had to pass a barrier (of which I will speak below) and then drive still some kilometers to finally reach the parking at Pian dei Buoi (200 places for cars) at ca. 2800m, where started the material cableway.
Pian dei Buoi; up on the right there is the refuge and down on the left there are some buildings of shelter:
The road is today badly damaged by landslides, even when the summer skiing area was still open it was often victim to landslides, but with some work and good will of the staff, they managed it.
The road as it looks today:
Having arrived at Pian dei Buoi, skis and luggage were loaded on a material cablecar to carry them up to the refuge; skiers had to go up on a mountain trail for another 200 meters of height which took about 45 min.
The huge refuge is well positioned providing a great view:
The refuge is now disused for about ten years, in the last years it went economically bad?why go there having to drive up all this road and even climb up in the end when there is the summer skiing area at the nearly located Passo Stelvio? Judging from how the staff left it, one might think they fled from a war, because everything was left there (until last year some people went to clean up): the pantry was full (drinks and food, tomatoes etc.), there were tables and chairs, all the beds, all doors etc. Today there's still left a freezer, the kitchen, and some other things.
Walking up from Pian Dei Buoi, you can find some pieces, barrels of petroleum etc scattered near the path.
This is how the refuge looks today:
This is the side of the refuge facing the glacier:
Arrival of the material cable-car (on the background some of the towings of the skilift are visible):
And now the interieur of the refuge?
All bedrooms have wooden walls and a window:
Every bedrooms had an own bathroom and independent heating:
The long corridor:
The dining and living room:
The bar and the phone cabin on the floor:
If you want some towings?there are also the rope and a pylone (glacier pylone):
The way the refuge looks today (all broken) is a result of vandalism of the past years and people destroying all for fun.. I ask myself which kind of taste makes people doing so? Taking chairs and throwing them against the bar... cutting mattresses, tearing of the electrical switchboard, throwring the petroleum barrels on the path... Voices of country say that person to leave all open has been one.
The whole thing was well organized, but anyway they did not make all the counts.. how could they think they could compete with Stelvio this way? There no electrical supply up there, but only two large generators that worked half a day in order not to strain them too much. They had to supply all the shelter, the two skilifts and the autoclaves at Pian dei Buoi. The autoclaves, the generators are still there (one at the refuge and one close to the autoclaves), and in a garage at Pian dei Buoi there is still a Land Rover which cannot return to the valley. If there are people who wigh to sleep in the refuge or at Pian dei Buoi: you see, there's all you need...however it might be colder inside than outside...
The road barrier of which I spoke above is closed today and the key is hold by a woman that lives near there; she announced to me that the road was constructed by her son and now it is only used by the persons who work in the quarry some way up... if you want her to open the road you have to pay 10,- ?... but, as said before, it is in poor condition and you will probably meet cows. When it was opened the road lead also to Rifugio Longoni further down.
Today the tables, the chairs and the doors of the rooms lack because the manager of another refuge has taken it to buildt his shelter, after he went to clean up the Scerscen glacier. They had not given permission to take everything, nevertheless now there's not one single chair, table etc. I, obviously, went in this shelter and I have photographed chairs and tables (and they are made me to carry in the rooms).
I that I know nearly all the ski instructors of the Valmalenco, asked them if they'd sell the refuge to me and they said that they'd give me for free... I'd love to reopen it, but I guess that would cost much to much. Apart from the effort to rebuild it all, the glacier continues to move and on the stairs of the shelter several leaks have opened. This shelter meant always a lot to me and finally this summer I managed to get there together with my dad (but when I arrived, it was already too late, I would have liked to see it with its tables, the skilift etc.)
The refuge had two floors above, the ground level and a semi underground level; all in all there ware 136 places to sleep. There was a similar shelter ? Casati -, which is still open for hikers as there are more trails to do than from Scerscen, further on there is the Marinelli Refuge.
There were two skilifts: Scerscen 1 (built in 1978) and Scerscen 2 (built in 1982).
With all this, it was one of my favourite refuges... I still have a photo of me with my family at the refuge when it was still in use. Anyway, I don't have no more in my memory.
Bye bye.
