The Story of S-chanf
The Scaletta Pass (Scaletta = ladder), which leads from Davos to Cinuos-chel, used to be part of an important mule route between the Lake Constance region (Montafon) and the Valtellina, which was under Graubünden rule between 1512 and 1797. Farmers brought the products of their livestock farming to the south and collected wine and grain from there. So anyone who hikes over the Scaletta Pass today is doing so on part of the mule route known as the long-distance hike Via Valtellina.
S-chanf was first mentioned in 1139, when the Bishopric of Chur purchased sovereign rights and land in the Upper Engadin from the Counts of Gamertingen. First documented as ‘Scaneues’ (1139), the village name went through a number of metamorphoses, including ‘Shân’ (1297), ‘Scanevo’ and ‘Scanef (both 1304, 1356 and 1375) to become the present-day S-chanf. The first traces of human settlement were found by head forester Eduard Campell on Botta Striera on the ridge between La Sassa and God God. These are shards of clay dating from around 599 BC, which can now be seen in the Engadine Museum in St. Moritz.
The present-day boundaries of S-chanf were established in 1543 when the Upper Engadine was divided into its political communities. As in many valleys in the canton of Graubunden, a tradition of emigration began in the 16th century that lasted until the early 20th century and brought a certain prosperity to the villages thanks to the successful returnees. Confectioners from S-chanf made careers for themselves in Le Havre, Bordeaux, Breslau, Danzig and Königsberg. The money that flowed back into their homeland made S-chanf the most populous municipality in the Upper Engadine: in 1806 it had 450 inhabitants. Today, S-chanf, with a population of around 700, is best known as the destination of the Engadine Ski Marathon and for the abundance of wildlife in its surroundings, which belong to the Swiss National Park.