Piz Ela, Mountain summit in Grisons, Switzerland

Piz Ela is a mountain summit in the Albula Alps standing at 3,338.7 meters high and dominating the ridge with steep rock faces and narrow passages. The peak offers multiple climbing routes with varying difficulty levels that appeal to different climber abilities.

Piz Ela was first climbed on 17 July 1865 by Alex Flury, Peter Jenny and Georg Jenny. The mountain lies in the Albula Alps between Bergün/Bravuogn and Savognin, and its summit is the highest dolomite peak in the Swiss Alps after the Marmolata. The Ela Hut at 2252 m, in the Val Spadlatscha, has served as the base for ascents since the early alpinist era.

The name Ela comes from the Romansh word for wing, from Latin ala. Twice a year the sun shines through the Ela-Loch, a 2.5 m high opening in the rock about 30 m below the southeast ridge, onto Bergün: between 15 and 20 October around 15–16 h and between 22 and 27 February around 14–15 h. On 10 August, the feast of Saint Lawrence, morning sun through the hole falls on the Maiensäss Manziel in the former municipality of Riom, whose church is dedicated to Saint Lawrence. A legend says the devil threw a stone at Eulenspiegel and hit the Piz Ela instead.

All summit routes are rated at least ZS (moderately difficult); the normal route over the west ridge starts at the Ela-Hütte (2,252 m) and takes 4–5 hours. The south-west pillar is rated S and takes 6–7½ hours. The road from Tinizong into Val d'Err is closed to private cars; a hiking bus runs from Savognin to Pensa on Tuesdays and Fridays in summer.

About 30 m below the southeast ridge, 160 m southeast of the summit at roughly 3,270 m, the rock is pierced by the Ela-Loch (Fora digl Ela), a cavity about 2.5 m high, 5 to 6 m wide and 3 m deep. Between 15 and 20 October, around 15–16 h, sunlight passes through it onto Bergün/Bravuogn; a legend says the devil threw a stone at Eulenspiegel and hit the mountain instead.